In FY2011 the goal for the number of refugees to be admitted to the US from the Obama Administration was 80,000 but it looks like they will be way lower than that — in the 50,000s. I suppose in some vague recognition of our bleak jobs outlook they are going to shoot for 76,000 in FY 2012.
Thanks to reader ‘Wanderer’ for sending us the official document from the President to Congress. It is only supposed to be the proposed numbers but to my knowledge Congress just rubber stamps the thing! The pdf is here. You can find some interesting numbers on page 5. I look forward to reading the whole document but wanted to get the link out to any of you who are eager to do your own reading.
It looks like the State Department is expecting the family reunification program from countries like Somalia to be reopened (it was closed in 2008 when they found widespread fraud—people were lying about family members, yes, can you believe it!).
Funny, it was only yesterday that we learned that the number of people living in poverty in the US is skyrocketing, but with tens of thousands of refugees admitted to the US each year we are importing more poverty. Go figure! See the Reuters story here.