A Trump administration official reportedly floated slashing the number of refugees that can be admitted to the U.S. next year “to nearly zero,” Politico reports. The suggestion reportedly came from John Zadrozny, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official allied with—no surprise—White House aide and white supremacist Stephen Miller. Zadrozny reportedly “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.”
Bulllllllllllllshit. The vetting process for refugees can take as long as two years—two years longer than, say, vetting for your typical Trump nominee—and the administration has already taken inhumane and illegal action after inhumane and illegal action to strangle the right to asylum, including another illegal rule change blocking Central Americans and others.
While Zadrozny offered letting zero people fleeing war and other disasters into the U.S., “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,” Politico continued, still a devastating slash from this year’s level of 30,000, which was also a devastating slash from the year before that.
Even if the administration kept the number at 30,000, they may not even try to let 30,000 here to start new lives. “Nearly 9,000 refugees are currently approved to travel to the U.S.,” and among Iraqi applicants, “only 140 have entered so far this year. More than 100,000 remain in the queue, according to an analysis provided by refugee groups.” The Statue of Liberty weeps.
