HIAS - 10.18.2002

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

Refugee Council USA Dismayed by President's Decision to Limit Refugee Admissions

Press Release

Washington, DC – The Refugee Council USA today expressed dismay that President Bush has restricted the number of refugees that the United States plans to admit in fiscal year 2003. In his annual Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions, which he signed yesterday, the President set the target for FY 2003 refugee admissions at 70,000, but indicated that the Administration only planned to admit 50,000 refugees unless unforeseen circumstances arise. The Refugee Council, a coalition of 19 refugee resettlement and advocacy groups, had asked the Administration to admit a much higher number of refugees in 2003.

Leonard Glickman, President and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and Chair of the Refugee Council USA said that its member agencies were disheartened that the President did not seek to make up for record-low refugee admissions in FY 2002—just over 27,000 of the 70,000 authorized—by bringing in more refugees in 2003. "We have been greatly disturbed by the chronic shortfalls in refugee admissions over the past ten years, a problem that was dramatically exacerbated in FY 2002 due to the post 9/11 security environment," Glickman said. "But we thought that with the new security measures in place, 2003 would see a return to more historic levels of refugee admissions." 

Glickman said that recent letters from over 40 Senators and Representatives. Senators Orrin Hatch, Arlen Specter, and Paul Wellstone, Representatives Henry Hyde, Tom Lantos and Jay Inslee, and the Congressional Black Caucus, all supporting an admissions ceiling of over 100,000, demonstrate Congressional support for restoring refugee admissions to historic levels.

Glickman also noted that Refugee Council USA has worked with the Administration for many months to identify populations of refugees in need of resettlement. "In addition to the Refugee Council USA’s admissions recommendations document for FY 2003, on August 8, the Council wrote to the President submitting a plan to reverse years of decline in the number of U.S. resettlement opportunities available for refugees. The plan identified a number of groups that needed rescue, but the Administration did not include them among those to be admitted in 2003,” Glickman said. He added, "We do not understand why."

Glickman encouraged the President to admit the full 70,000 refugees he authorized in the Presidential Determination, not just the 50,000 that State Department is planning to admit. "Every unused refugee number is an individual whose freedom, and maybe even life, will be lost," Glickman said. He added that the Council remained committed to cooperating with the Administration to identify, process, and help resettle a larger number of refugees.

"In the arena of refugee protection, the entire world looks to the United States for leadership. While we are fully aware of the numerous competing needs during difficult times, we urge you to pursue a refugee policy that makes a dramatic statement of concern for the world’s most vulnerable refugees," Refugee Council Chair Glickman said.