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White House sees surge in Syrian refugee admissions this year | ||||
2016-06-17 | ||||
The Obama administration believes it will be able to process many more Syrian refugees in the last half of fiscal 2016 than in the first six months, allowing it to meet its goal of admitting at least 10,000 by Sept. 30.
The administration's move is in sharp contrast to recent anti-refugee rhetoric by many Republicans, especially since the killings in Orlando on Sunday raised fears of attacks. Donald Trump, the presumptive 2016 Republican presidential nominee, has called for the refugee resettlement program to be suspended, saying "We don't know who they are. They have no documentation, and we don't know what they're planning." Backers of the administration's plan dispute such statements, citing the extensive screening process the Syrian refugees undergo.
The letter said the administration had set up a temporary processing center in Jordan and expanded operations in Turkey. It also has restarted interviews in neighboring Lebanon, and begun limited processing in Erbil, Iraq. Durbin was a lead author of a letter to President Barack Obama in May, which was signed by more than half the Democrats in the Senate and urged the president to move more quickly to admit Syrians.
The letter seen on Thursday was the administration's response to the one sent in May. Obama's plan to admit 10,000 Syrians was met with a firestorm of criticism in the United States, mostly from Republicans who say that violent militants could enter the country by posing as refugees. More than 30 governors, most of them Republicans, have tried to keep refugees out of their states. | ||||
Posted by:Steve White |