The Trump administration on Wednesday carried out a lawfully required consultation with Congressional leaders on the number of refugees that will be admitted to the United States in the next fiscal year—but carried out that meeting nearly a month late, House and Senate Judiciary Committee members said in a statement.
Law requires a president’s administration to consult with Congress on refugee admissions by Sept. 30. But under this administration, law is optional for some. House and Senate Judiciary Committee members now say that officials didn’t bother seeing them until Oct. 22, three weeks past the required deadline. It’s not even the first time the administration has pulled this, legislators said. It’s the third time.
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If the Trump administration had bothered with pesky shit like the law before the State Department late last month announced its refugee plan for the next fiscal year, House and Senate Judiciary Committee members would have been able to push back on officials seeking to disgracefully slash admissions to just 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year, the lowest in the history of the refugee program.
The Associated Press reported at the time that the administration also waited until the last possible moment to notify legislators about the proposed numbers, announcing it “just 34 minutes before a statutory deadline to do so.” It sort of raised the question of why it even bothered at all to do so when it was already violating law, and considering how its made all too clear over the years that it doesn’t consider Congress a legitimate branch (unless of course it’s doing its bidding).
The administration’s slashing of refugee admissions comes as the United Nations says a historic number of people around the world are facing displacement—nearly 80 million as of 2019. The slashes also come as the U.S. is breaking its promises to people who risked their lives to assist U.S. military overseas but are now being blocked from coming here by draconian anti-refugee policies. The New York Times reported this month that of the 4,000 slots reserved for Iraqis who’ve assisted the military, only 161 were filled in the last fiscal year.
“Between endless red tape, slashed refugee admissions, and new ‘extreme vetting’ measures, the U.S. has made it all but impossible for its wartime partners to get the safe passage they were promised,” tweeted The International Refugee Assistance Project. “And the stakes couldn't be higher for those left behind.” The AP said in its report last month that the administration’s proposed numbers “will now be reviewed by Congress, where there are strong objections to the cuts, but lawmakers will be largely powerless to force changes.” Unless, of course, we change the administration and gain full control of Congress.
"The current administration has separated families, closed off avenues to the legal asylum system, and steadily decimated our refugee program,” House and Senate Judiciary members Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Dick Durbin, and Dianne Feinstein said. “They have done everything they can to make America a less welcoming nation. It is therefore no surprise to us that the administration’s proposed refugee admissions goal is the lowest since the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980.
"The refugee program provides support to our most vulnerable allies abroad, including dissidents in Hong Kong and Venezuela,” the legislators continued. “In our consultation with Secretary Pompeo, we urged the administration to address these foreign policy concerns and raise the refugee admissions goal. This President has for too long abandoned our key allies. We need a leader who will restore our refugee resettlement program and advance our nation’s interests. The American people deserve better."
So do the most vulnerable around the world who still believe in their hearts that America can be a shining city on the hill.
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