White House aide Andrew Veprek “has been selected for a top State Department post overseeing refugee admissions, according to current and former officials.” There’s a slight hitch, though:
“My experience is that he strongly believes that fewer refugees should admitted into the United States and that international migration is something to be stopped, not managed,” the former U.S. official said, adding that Veprek’s views about refugees and migrants were impassioned to the point of seeming “vindictive.”
Veprek’s “close” relationship white supremacist Stephen Miller has Eric Schwartz, president of Refugees International, “deeply concerned,” to say the least. According to the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration’s website, the agency “provides aid and sustainable solutions for refugees, victims of conflict and stateless people around the world, through repatriation, local integration, and resettlement in the United States.” But:
Veprek played an influential role in Trump administration’s December withdrawal from international talks on a nonbinding global pact on migration issues. He also argued in favor of dramatically lowering the nation’s annual cap on refugee admissions, the current and former officials said.
Well, that’s not troubling at all, or the first time this has happened. Last month, the administration nominated Ken Isaacs to the UN’s International Organization for Migration despite—or because of—making anti-Muslim remarks. When it comes to Veprek’s appointment, “such a position typically does not require Senate confirmation,“ according to Politico, adding that some officials from the bureau may end up quitting in protest.