And, yes, Mr. President, the deal was “dumb” and it makes you “look terrible.”
We have America’s hurricane refugees and you are bringing in ‘refugees’ that Australia does not want on its mainland!
The news that they were leaving Australia’s detention centers en route to at least five American states is two days old, so surely they have been delivered.
For new readers, see all of my posts on the Australian (dumb!) deal by clicking here.
Here is the news posted Wednesday at The Guardian:
More than 50 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru are on their way to the United States to be resettled there.
The first 52 refugees to be accepted for resettlement in the United States under a contentious agreement with Australia have left the Pacific island camps where they had been held for years.
Their move comes as reports from Washington indicate the US is preparing to announce it is further slashing its overall refugee intake to its lowest level in a decade.
The first 25 refugees from the men-only camp on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island had flown out of the capital, Port Moresby, on Tuesday for the United States via the Philippines and Qatar, Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said.
Another 27 refugees flew to Port Moresby on Wednesday from a camp in Nauru, he said, also bound, ultimately, for Los Angeles.
But, Los Angeles is not their final destination:
The refugees will be resettled across the United States, including in Georgia, Oregon, Colorado, Texas and Arizona.
They will be assisted with housing, physical and mental healthcare, English lessons, enrolment of children in schools, and in finding employment. [On the US taxpayer’s dime!—ed]
[….]
Obama’s administration had agreed to accept up to 1,250 of Australia’s refugees, mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, [earlier reports said that Rohingya Muslims were in the group too—ed] in exchange for Australia agreeing to accept refugees from the “northern triangle” countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, under a US-led resettlement program. [These are mostly economic migrants NOT even in the US.—ed]
It was dumb when Obama did it, and it is dumb now!
Trump lashed his predecessor’s deal as “dumb”, and complained in a phone call to the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, that it would “make me look terrible”.
[….]
Trump ultimately agreed to honour the agreement, subject to “extreme vetting” of refugees.
The US is under no obligation to take a set number of refugees. Australian officials are confident the US will resettle somewhere approaching the 1,250 figure publicly speculated…
The takeaway from this dumb deal is that the US is helping Australia protect its borders, and maintain its security and sovereignty while sacrificing ours!
Australia’s asylum policy mandates that no refugee who arrives in Australia by boat can ever be resettled in the country, a policy the government says dissuades asylum seekers from attempting the dangerous and occasionally deadly ocean crossing from Indonesia.
You can read the rest of the story, here.
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