…Governor Cuomo says in response to Trump’s new cap on refugees
The United States Government has announced its intention to admit a maximum of only 30,000 refugees in 2019.
According to CBS News, although this would be the lowest refugee cap in U.S. history, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when making the announcement at the State Department Monday afternoon, called the new figures “expansive.” He added that they should “not be viewed in isolation” because the U.S. is the world’s most generous nation when it comes to humanitarian assistance.
Pompeo suggested that maintaining that high level of U.S. humanitarian assistance was related to the new cap, which he also said “serves the national security interests” of the US.
However, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted the President Donald Administration over the move saying that the new record low cap on refugees “is an outrageous assault on everything we stand for in this country”.
He said that by shutting the door on the most vulnerable, the President is taking his anti-immigrant agenda to the next level and effectively “pulling the torch down from the Statue of Liberty”.
“In New York, we will continue to serve as a beacon of hope and opportunity for the entire world. We believe that our diversity is our greatest strength, and we are proud to be home to refugees across the state who are breathing new life into their communities as members of the family of New York. While President Trump undermines the values that built this state and this nation, New York will always welcome immigrants and refugees with open arms,” Cuomo said.
The Trump administration has long said that it would need to move resources to address the backlog in asylum seekers, and Pompeo referenced this, calling it a “daunting challenge.” He said there are over 800,000 asylum cases pending. In 2019 the U.S. plans to process 280,000 asylum seekers, CBS News reported.
According to CBS News, the vetting process for refugees is extensive. It generally takes 18-24 months, and there are many layers. Despite the long vetting, Pompeo believes the system under the Obama administration was “defective”
With humanitarian crises worldwide – in places like Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and Myanmar – there are currently unprecedented refugee flows, which are expected to continue next year. That means this shrinking of the U.S. refugee admittance number is a major blow to many refugee organizations.
The cap itself is not the only factor in determining how many refugees are let into the U.S. Last year’s refugee cap was 45,000. But by the end of August the U.S. had only let in 19,899 refugees, meaning that the U.S. will not hit its cap. They are unlikely to even reach half the maximum figure by the end of September.
