Asst. Sec. of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey was feted today with a good-bye party at the US State Department. The ceremony included high praise from Sec. of State Condolezza Rice and Sauerbrey’s lobbying friends in the refugee industry. Here Ken Bacon of Refugees International writes in glowing terms about the conservative MD Republican who ran a billion dollar (and growing!) agency of the Federal government.
Mrs. Sauerbrey held the post for two years and during that time worked hard to increase admission during a period of increased security screening and new laws that complicated refugee resettlement in the United States. A major accomplishment was increasing the number of refugees resettled in the U.S. to 48,000 in fiscal year 2007, which ended last Sept. 30, from 41,000 the year before.
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To do this, Mrs. Sauerbrey had to overcome an obstacle in new anti-terrorist laws–the USA Patriot Act and the REAL ID Act– called material support.
Kind of makes you shake your head, how did we get to the point of praising a conservative for bringing more refugees to America while lessening the security procedures?