This is an article of the sort that screams—we should be doing more! However, you will find it a useful summary of where the Refugee Resettlement Program stands today.
I told you about the Migration Policy Institute here in February of 2011, they are one of those Leftist Open Borders advocacy groups masquerading as a think tank. But, they are still useful as you will see in this summing-up of the modern-day resettlement program for refugees and asylum seekers which came into being in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter and Senators Kennedy and Biden created the monster.
Below is one of the opening paragraphs of their latest report. And, by the way, the 2012 fiscal year ends effectively on Sunday and at any moment we should see the Presidential determination letter which officially asks Congress for the number of refugees to be admitted in 2013.
In 2012 Obama asked for 76,000 refugees (MPI says 80,000 every year since 2008, so I don’t know where the discrepancy is?) and we admitted ‘only!’ 56,000 plus in 2011. According to WRAPS, here, as of August 31st (one month short of the end of the fiscal year for 2012, we were just shy of 50,000 admitted). Two things happened to reduce those numbers—a couple of Iraqi refugee terrorists were nabbed in Kentucky and all those cities getting refugees are completely overloaded with unemployed and needy refugees and contractors are scouring the country for fresh territory in which to drop off the refugees.
MPI:
The United States grants humanitarian protection on a limited basis to refugees and asylees from diverse countries throughout the world (see Definitions box) This Spotlight examines the data on persons admitted to the United States as refugees and those granted asylum in 2011. It also provides the number of refugees and asylees who received lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in 2011.
Check out the report for the summary and pay attention to the growing number of asylum seekers granted legal permanent residency status. Asylum seekers are people who arrived on our borders illegally and say they were being persecuted somewhere in the world (never mind that most traveled through many ‘safe’ countries where they should have asked for asylum, but its the US they are aiming for). Refugees are screened by Homeland Security before they are admitted to the US. Asylum seekers waltz right in!
Have a look at this interesting table about those granted asylum and where they came from in 2011. It gives you some idea of who those OTMs (other than Mexicans) are coming across our borders. However, some asylum seekers are those with student or tourist visas who then ask for asylum rather than return home.
One more thing, when you visit WRAPS, and see the Refugee Admissions report up to August 31, note that we admitted over 4000 more Somalis this year.
For new readers: We have a category entitled ‘where to find information’ and this post will be archived there. You might want to visit that category from time to time for basic information about the program.