Trump Administration Officials: Refugee Admissions for FY2020 Could be Zero

“Refugee backers….worry that the doomsday scenario — taking numbers down to zero — could debilitate the resettlement program for years to come.”

(Politico)

 
I had planned to immediately this morning jump on the Rep. Ilhan Omar (Somali refugee) marriage scam story, but need to tell you about this breaking news first.

 
A little background….
Every year at this time various administration agencies and the federal resettlement contractors (also called incorrectly ‘charities’) get together to plan for the coming fiscal year and how many refugees should be admitted and from where.
The State Department then in conjunction with the White House prepares the Presidential Determination that is sent to Congress in September for consultation with various committees.  However, it is the President who has the power under the Refugee Act of 1980 to set the CEILING for the coming year.
One step in the process that has now been missing for years is the “scoping meeting” which for many many years was held in May or June and it was an opportunity for the public to weigh in with views on the scope of the program.  Longtime readers of Refugee Resettlement Watch may recall that for a number of years during the Obama Administration those of us with concerns about the program swamped them with comments.
That opportunity for public comment was dropped and the Trump Administration has never revived it.  
So here we are again the annual squabble over numbers of refugees for the coming fiscal year has begun (FY20 begins on October 1, 2019).  Previously I saw that the nine federal contractors (Church World Service is one of the nine) who are paid to place the refugees are again pushing for 75,000.
Not happy with what they learned last week from the Trump team, they have leaked to Politico and surely other news outlets to vent and to stir up their minions to put pressure on Congress and the White House so they can continue to be paid to change America by changing the people.

And, get this! Heritage Foundation is on the side of more refugees rather than less!

If only it is so…..
Politico (hat tip: Jeannine):

Trump officials pressing to slash refugee admissions to zero next year

 

The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to nearly zero — according to three people familiar with the plan.
During a key meeting of security officials on refugee admissions last week, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services representative who is closely aligned with White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller suggested setting a cap at zero, the people said. Homeland Security Department officials at the meeting later floated making the level anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000, according to one of the people.
The proposal for a near-shutdown of the refugee program is alarming officials at the Department of Defense, who don’t want to see a halt in admissions of Iraqis who risked their lives assisting U.S. forces in that country. The possible move comes after the Trump administration cut refugee admissions by a third this year, to 30,000.
If the administration shuts down refugee admissions, it would give President Donald Trump a powerful talking point as he makes immigration restrictions a centerpiece of his reelection campaign.

At the same time, it would strand thousands of people already far along in the process and damage the ability of resettlement agencies to process refugees in future years, according to advocates tracking the issue.

“In the long-term, it would mean that the capacity and the ability of the United States to resettle refugees would be completely decimated,” said Jen Smyers, a director with Church World Service, one of the nine U.S. resettlement agencies.

What she is saying above is that their budgets would be decimated with the loss of the millions they get from us—US taxpayers! And, of course Politico makes no mention of that fact!

The meeting of roughly 20 officials last week, which took place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, represents a preliminary step in the annual process of setting the admissions cap, according to those with knowledge of it.
USCIS official John Zadrozny and the State Department’s Andrew Veprek — both known as Miller allies — argued in the meeting that the refugee cap should be low because of ongoing security concerns and the ability of the U.S. to offer humanitarian protections through the asylum process, according to an attendee.
While the two programs similarly protect people facing persecution, refugees apply for protection from overseas, while asylum seekers apply once they’ve arrived at the border or entered the U.S. on a legal visa. Proponents of the refugee program contend it offers the U.S. diplomatic and military leverage internationally beyond its humanitarian aims.

The above paragraph is very important for a couple of reasons.  All of those ‘asylum seekers’ breaking into America right now could end up being declared refugees and receive all of the benefits legitimate refugees receive thus completely swamping our welfare system, schools, health care systems etc.
And, it is pretty outrageous that refugees should be foisted on unsuspecting communities in order for Washington to gain international “diplomatic and military leverage.”

The Miller allies asserted at the meeting that the refugee determination didn’t matter because it was a ceiling, not a floor, and the administration still retained the discretion to admit fewer people, according to one of the people with knowledge of it.
The various agencies will submit their recommendations by Aug. 1, the person told POLITICO.
The presence of Zadrozny and Veprek in the refugee cap negotiations speaks to the influence of Miller over the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. Both are viewed as proxies for the president’s hard-line adviser.

Just what we need (not!): Heritage Foundation says surely we can find “more folks” to bring into the US who are in countries that don’t want to do us harm.

“Even if you’re really hesitant about certain types of conflict-torn areas, I still think there are other areas that are not of concern,” said David Inserra, a policy analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation. “There are enough refugees out there in the world that I think you could find more folks that you’re not particularly worried about.”

LOL! Below Politico sends out the word that Open Borders agitators need to get out and lobby the administration!  And, therein lies the primary reason there is a scare tactic headline to this story!

The Trump administration doesn’t need to make the refugee determination until next month and there remains time for outside groups to lobby the administration. The administration also must consult with members of related congressional committees regarding the determination, although that requirement has been mostly brushed aside under Trump.

The article is long and there is a lot more information, so go here to read it all.
There is a big discussion in the story about the military wanting to admit more Iraqis, but interesting to me was the lack of any mention of the  thousands of Afghans we have brought in during the Trump Administration.

If there was ever a time to contact the White House, this is it! 

Tell the President—zero refugees for 2020!  After all, hundreds of thousands are arriving illegally and asking for asylum so those should be dealt with first.  (See White House contact in my right hand side bar.)