No jobs, who cares!
The federal government’s fiscal year (FY2011) began two weeks ago on October 1. President Obama sent his Determination Letter to Congress on the 3oth of September, a document that sets the upper limit for refugee resettlement for the upcoming year.
Some were hoping to see a lowered ceiling this year in light of the on-going economic recession, but no such luck. The ceiling for FY2010 was 80,000 and Obama is aiming for that many again. Readers contrast the two years following 9/11 when everyone was scared to death terrorists would be arriving in droves where the numbers were 45,896 in 2002 and 39,544 in 2003, here. It appears however that we didn’t quite make the 80,000 this year—total here as of September 30th is 73,311.
This is from the Obama letter to Congress:
In accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the “Act”) (8 U.S.C. 1157), as amended, and after appropriate consultations with the Congress, I hereby make the following determinations and authorize the following actions:
The admission of up to 80,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest…
Regional goals are as follows:
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,000
Europe and Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . 2,000
Latin America/Caribbean. . . . . . . . . . . 5,500
Near East/South Asia. . . . . . . . . . . 35,500
Unallocated Reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000
To find out what countries are in each region go back to this site where the countries are listed.
A refugee is generally defined as someone who has left one’s country due to persecution or a fear of persecution, however, the definition is ‘fudged’ in several cases. “Refugees” who have not left their country can still be called “refugees” if they are from one of these countries:
I [Barack Obama] also specify that, for FY 2011, the following persons may, if otherwise qualified, be considered refugees for the purpose of admission to the United States within their countries of nationality or habitual residence:
a. Persons in Cuba
b. Persons in the former Soviet Union
c. Persons in Iraq
d. In exceptional circumstances, persons identified by a United States Embassy in any location.