[ad_1]
The US Department of State has notified Congress that the United States plans to resettle 15,000 refugees to the United States during fiscal year 2021, a record number.
The government estimate, required by US law, is a reduction from a ceiling of 18,000 in fiscal year 2020 and comes as President Donald Trump has sought to turn refugees into a political problem to aid in his candidacy for reelection.
The actual number of refugees admitted by the United States tends to be lower than the annual ceiling and under the Trump administration’s policies it was less than 11,000 in 2020, also a record low, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.
At a campaign rally Wednesday night, Trump warned a large crowd of supporters that his Democratic rival Joe Biden would open the United States’ borders to refugees and asylum seekers.
“Biden will turn Minnesota into a refugee camp,” Trump said to boos from supporters in Duluth, Minnesota.
Supporters of United States President Donald Trump booed refugees and yelled ‘Lock her up’ over Representative Ilhan Omar as Trump encouraged them during a campaign rally at Duluth International Airport in Minnesota on September 30, 2020.[Leah Millis/Reuters]
Minnesota, a key state in the presidential elections, has the largest Somali population in the US and is home to Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American who came to the US as a child under asylum and he was elected to Congress in 2018.
Trump supporters shouted “lock her, lock her, lock her up” chants directed at Omar.
Facebook announced on September 30 that it had removed the 15-second Trump campaign ads that linked the admission of refugees to unfounded coronavirus infections.
The ads featured video footage of Biden speaking about border security and warned that it would increase the admissions of refugees from Syria, Somalia and Yemen.
“We reject these ads because we do not allow claims that people’s physical safety, health or survival is threatened by people based on their national origin or immigration status,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than a quarter of the world’s refugees: Trump has moved to limit the admission of refugees to the United States, Biden says he will increase those allowed in [File: Ben Curtis/AP Photo]
The State Department notification cited the coronavirus pandemic as the main reason for the reduction in refugee admissions.
“The president’s proposal for refugee resettlement in fiscal year 2021 reflects the administration’s continued commitment to prioritizing the safety and well-being of Americans, especially in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Department of State in its notice to Congress.
The Trump administration has adopted a series of policies to prevent and discourage immigration to the US, prompting a sharp reduction in the number of refugees admitted. The number of refugees resettled in the United States in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, was nearly 85,000.
Meanwhile, the number of refugees around the world has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. Nearly 80 million people have been forced from their homes by conflict and persecution, according to the United Nations and other agencies.
The Trump administration’s policy has been to keep refugees in camps and work to ensure their return home “to rebuild their lives, their communities and their countries,” the State Department said.
Gregory Maniatis, director of the Open Society’s International Migration Initiative, said in a tweet that Trump has promoted “anti-refugee hysteria.”
BREAKING: In the dead of night, Trump told Congress that the United States will accept 15,000 refugees (maximum) in the fiscal year that begins today, the fewest in history. Reagan welcomed 159,252, George HW Bush, 132,531.
It is the last gasp of his anti-refugee hysteria. Https://t.co/WGB1InE8WB
– Gregory A. Maniatis (@gmaniatis) October 1, 2020
Representatives Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, blamed the administration for failing to consult with Congress on setting the refugee cap before the end of the fiscal year as required by law.
“Administration violations will stop our refugee program, leaving thousands of people stranded abroad with their lives at risk,” said Nadler.
“This time around, refugees, including many who served alongside our troops, will be victims of the Trump administration’s lawless approach,” Nadler said in a statement issued Sept. 30.
The timing of the refugee announcement is tied by a 1980 refugee law to the budget, or fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following calendar year.
[ad_2]
