Former Refugee ‘bigwigs’ Beg Pompeo to Not Suspend Refugee Admissions

As I have been reporting, September is the month when the President normally sends a “determination” to the Hill (for consultation only) in which he reports what the refugee admissions ceiling will be in the upcoming fiscal year which begins October 1. However, he is not required by law to agree to admit any refugees.

All of my recent posts on the topic are tagged FY2021.

There are rumors that President Trump will simply not send anything to Congress effectively signaling a suspension of the program.

Editor:  BTW, regular readers of RRW might be interested in seeing two posts at Frauds and Crooks that could easily have been posted here because they are refugee related. See here and here.

Below we have news from ABC about a letter to Pompeo from mostly a bunch of people you (or I) have never even heard of who participated in changing America by changing the people for decades.

Trump admin urged to accept refugees amid concerns it will indefinitely delay admissions

A group of prominent former U.S. officials is joining state and local governments, U.S. lawmakers, religious leaders and resettlement agencies in urging the Trump administration to increase refugee admissions in fiscal year 2021 amid historic need around the world.

The administration is supposed to consult with Congress and make a decision by the end of the fiscal year, in one week. But there is growing concern that President Donald Trump will decide to zero out refugee admissions, delay them indefinitely, or reduce the admissions cap even further.

[….]

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on Trump’s cap and “the internal discussions or the timeline related to its development,” but told ABC News it was ultimately the president’s decision.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the administration is considering postponing or further cutting admissions.

Seven former U.S. officials who ran the refugee admissions program under both Republican and Democrat administrations urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to express alarm at such a suspension and call for a “substantial increase” in admissions.

More here.

Do we believe for a second that this letter will hold any sway with the President?

Here is the nothingburger letter and the signatories (Purcell and Dewey are reportedly Republicans):

The Honorable Frank Loy
Former Director of the Bureau of Refugee Programs (1980–1981) Former Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs

James N. Purcell, Jr.
Former Director of the Bureau of Refugee Programs (1982–1986) Former Director General of the International Organization for Migration

The Honorable Phyllis Oakley
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (1994–1997) Former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research

The Honorable Arthur Dewey
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (2002–2005) Former United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees

Samuel Witten
Former Acting Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration (2007–2009) Former Deputy Legal Adviser for the U.S. Department of State

The Honorable Eric Schwartz
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (2009–2011) Former NSC Senior Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs

The Honorable Anne C. Richard
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (2012–2017) Former Director of the Secretary’s Office of Resources, Plans, and Policy, Department of State