Editor: I am still combing through my hundreds of e-mails to find the testimony you sent to the US State Department in response to the DOS request for public comment on the “size and scope” of the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program for FY2017.
The day before the deadline for submission of testimony I noticed (maybe you were all ahead of me and noticed!) that the dates were wrong in the Federal Register. I happened to see a comment sent by lawyers to the DOS asking that the comment period be re-opened because citizens, who might like to have testified, didn’t think the notice was for a comment period this year, but for last year. See here.
From Deborah who raises the TB issue here (before we learned this shocking news yesterday):
To Anne .C .Richard
UN/US State Dept Refugee Admissions Program
As an American citizen who immigrated to this country well over ten years ago I am writing to voice my opinion on the influx of refugees being brought to the U.S. by your dept and this administration. I realize this country has a long standing precedent for allowing immigrants as I was one myself but by ignoring the set procedures in order to bring more in you are risking the safety of every American already here. You must resist the urge to accommodate the will of the current administration and look to the future and the outcome of rushing these immigrants through without proper vetting.
Without screening these refugees for TB, as well as other communicable diseases, ( which every legal immigrant has to do) you risk further strain on our already weakened health care system. Legal immigrants must agree to not be a burden on the welfare system which does not apply to these refugees. How is that possibly fair, to penalize those that want to willingly come to this country, verses those that will not assimilate and expect to be financially cared for?
Even in my community I can see the strain this overworked system is having on the lives of Americans and it breaks my heart. I cannot understand how changing the length of the vetting process from 18 months to 3 months is either beneficial or practical especially in light of the current global upheavals both in the United States and abroad.
As a sovereign nation with a long history of charity for our global brothers and sisters I strongly request that the influx of unvetted refugees be reverted back to the original 18 month timeline with emphasis on reducing the volume and increasing the scrutiny. We as a nation are currently going through extreme political changes. It is important to note that this current administration will soon be surrendering the reigns to a new leader and since the voice of the people have loudly and universally rejected continuing the status quo I again ask that you take that fact into consideration when setting refugee admission guidelines for the 2017 year.
This is the fifteenth testimony in our series leading up to the deadline for comments to the Dept. of State on May 19th. Go here for where they are archived to see what your fellow citizens have said.
I intend to keep posting testimonies, a few a day, until I have exhausted my long list! I had no idea so many of you would respond to my offer! But, thank you for your hard work!
P.S. I should have mentioned it, but I have been adding photos and other images just to jazz up the plain text, I hope you all don’t mind!