Mon, July 29, 2013 THE CLARION PROJECT
The Obama administration is considering taking in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing from their country’s civil war and settling them in various American cities and towns.
According to the Los Angeles Times and later confirmed by State Department, the U.S. is “ready to consider the idea" if the administration is formally requested for such help by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, which is the usual procedure.
The United States normally absorbs approximately half the refugees that the UN agency requests for resettlement.
According to Jen Psaki, spokewoman for the State Dept., the U.S. is “in close contact with the UN on the need for resettlement of refugees.”
When asked for details about the resettlement plans, Psaki said, "The United States accepts more UN-referred refugees than all other countries combined, and we are aware, and we would – and the UN is aware that the US would consider any individuals referred to us to have been determined to be in need of resettlement. So we are prepared to respond if asked, and will encourage other resettlement countries to do the same."
Psaki also said that “There’s a cap by Congress of about 70,000 refugees in total,” while adding that the “the preferred solution for the vast majority is to return to their country once it’s safe.”
The Times reports that two close advisors to Obama, Susan Rice, the national security advisor, and Samantha Power, the nominee for U.S. ambassador to the U.N., both have been strong advocates for refugees, and are likely to influence Obama on the issue.
Congress has generally been more cautious. In the aftermath of the U.S. war against Iraq in 2003, Congress even resisted taking in interpreters who had worked with U.S. troops, yet Iraqi refugees were resettled in the U.S. Even with a vetting process to weed out militants, two Iraqis resettled in of Kentucky were later convicted of sending arms back to Al-Qaeda terrorists.
The resettlement plan appears to be moving forward with UN refugee officials, diplomats and non-governmental relief groups, having met in Geneva last month to discuss details. One Western country, Germany, has already agreed to take 5,000 refugees.
"It was probably inevitable that in this crisis, with these overwhelming numbers, governments would start moving in this direction," Lavinia Limon, chief executive officer of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a Virginia-based advocacy and service group, told the Times.
Though the refugee problem is a serious humanitarian issue with most having fled to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Yet moving some of them to the U.S. would create many challenges. Firstly, how does one vet applicants from a country where so many jihadi and al-Qaeda activists are present? Secondly, would the lure of possible entry to the U.S. encourage other Syrians to leave their country?
The Times reports that the Department of Homeland Security requires “careful vetting of refugees, with multiple interviews and background checks before they are allowed to enter the country.” That process, "under normal circumstances," can take a year or more.
While the discussion of absorbing Syrian refugees are taking place, a recently released report whos that the US is in the midst of the largest influx of Muslim immigrants ever.
A report released by the
Pew Forum on the religious affiliation of immigrants shows that the percentages of immigrants who are Muslim doubled between 1992 and 2012.
The Pew Research Center surveys of US Muslims in 2007 and 2011 show that the number of Muslims living in the United States rose in that four-year period by about 300,000 adults and 100,000 children, to a total of about 2.75 million Muslims of all ages. That rate of increase would be difficult to explain without rising immigration, the report said.
