BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON REFUGEE POLICY
Via Teleconference
5:34 P.M. EDT
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi, everybody. Thank you for joining. As the moderator indicated, we'll have brief remarks by three senior administration officials regarding the refugee policy. Following those remarks, we'll do a short Q&A. Since we have limited time, we'll go ahead and get started.
For the ground rules, this call is embargoed until after the call concludes. Any kind of attribution is on background to senior administration officials. There will be a transcript of the call; that may take some time, but we hope to get that to later today.
I will identify the speakers but that is strictly for awareness purposes and not for attribution. For today's background briefing, the speaker lineup is: [senior administration officials].
With that, I'd like to kick it off to [senior administration official] to start with a few remarks and then follow it up with [senior administration officials].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Very good. Thanks. This afternoon, the State Department, on behalf of the administration, submitted the President's annual report to Congress on proposed refugee admissions for fiscal year 2020. The official presidential determination on refugee admissions numbers for fiscal year 2020 will be issued following consultation with Congress, which the report will inform.
In terms of the report itself, the United States anticipates receiving more than 368,000 new refugees and asylum claims in Fiscal Year 2020. Of them, 18,000 would be refugees that we propose to resettle under the new refugee ceiling.
This proposed refugee admission ceiling takes into account the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis on our southern border and the massive asylum backlog. I'll let my colleagues talk about that in a moment.
New this year, instead of allocating the proposed ceiling by region, the report allocates it by group of special humanitarian interests to the United States. The reason for this: In the 1980 Refugee Act, which created the refugee admissions program, it says the program aims to provide for the resettlement of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States.
The previous allocations by continent or region were not directly connected to our national security or foreign policy priorities. The administration's proposed allocation links refugee admissions directly to U.S. national security and foreign policy priorities. So what are the groups and proposed allocations?
First, we're prioritizing those who have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. The U.S. is committed to advancing religious freedom internationally, including the protection of religious groups across the globe. To this end, the administration has proposed a dedicated allocation for people who have suffered or fear religious persecution and for those specified in the Lautenberg Inspector Amendments. So we propose admitting up to 5,000 in that category.
Next, we are focusing on Iraqis who assisted the United States. You might have heard of these as Iraqi P2s. We want to ensure that those who sacrifice their own safety to help U.S. national security have an opportunity to seek refuge in the United States. We propose admitting up to 4,000 in this category.
Next, we're also prioritizing nationals of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The vast majority of asylum seekers from the Northern Triangle do not meet the definition of refugee or asylee under our law. But for those few who do, we want to offer an alternative to making the long journey through Mexico, which can be dangerous. We propose admitting up to 1,500 in this category.
There is one remaining category, which is 7,500 which covers other refugees not covered by the foregoing categories, including those referred to the refugee admissions program by a U.S. diplomatic mission, family reunification categories.
The total proposed refugee admissions ceiling is 18,000.
Now, let me talk about the anticipated foreign policy impact. The number of individuals forcibly displaced worldwide is far more than can be resettled or granted asylum in the United States or other countries each year. So that’s why our support for refugees and other displaced people extends well beyond our immigration system.
The National Security Strategy says the United States will continue to lead the world in humanitarian assistance, including the refugees, and that we will provide this assistance as close to their homes as possible in order to meet their needs until they can safely and voluntarily return home.
The full picture of U.S. generosity includes more than $8 billion in overseas humanitarian assistance in Fiscal Year 2018, more than any other country provides. Our assistance reaches tens of millions of displaced and crisis-affected people worldwide, including those who will never be eligible or considered for third-country resettlements.
Helping refugees and other displaced people in areas close to their homes facilitates their return when conditions allow. This enables them to participate in rebuilding their homelands, promoting recovery and long-term stability of those countries and their neighbors, which also serves our foreign policy and national security interests.
This refugee admissions proposal reaffirms America's enduring commitment to assist the world's displaced people, while fulfilling our first duty to protect and serve our own.
Now let me turn to DHS.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. And good evening. Thank you all for joining us. I want to highlight just a few things and amplify several points that my colleague raised from the perspective of the Department of Homeland Security.
As my colleague mentioned, the refugee proposal is structured to support U.S. foreign policy interests. And in particular, I would note that it supports the Department of Homeland Security's ongoing engagement with regional and international partners, including our partners in the Northern Triangle.
In particular, as my colleague noted, the refugee proposal offers nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras -- particularly those who may be fleeing persecution or torture -- the opportunity to seek refugee status close to home, rather than embarking on a dangerous journey to the United States in the hands of smugglers and criminal organizations.
Additionally, as was also noted, the administration’s proposal for refugee admissions in Fiscal Year 2020 will allow the Department of Homeland Security to focus on addressing the ongoing crisis at the southern border. And the proposal is consistent with the holistic view -- the holistic view of the overall humanitarian workload, and the United States' longstanding role as the most generous nation in the world when it comes to welcoming those in need of protection.
In particular, the administration’s proposal for refugee admissions will allow DHS to focus on reducing a staggering asylum backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases that unfairly delays (inaudible) for those with meritorious claims, and will also allow the Department of Homeland Security, including USCIS, to complete more overall cases and increasingly multifaceted and complex workload that includes not only refugee admissions, but asylum applications, credible fears screenings, and MPP screenings.
And with that, I will turn it over to USCIS. Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. My name is [senior administration official]. I just wanted to provide some additional context for this year’s number determination and why we are in the situation we’re in.
As my colleague indicated, we basically have a situation where we have an existing backlog of approximately 1 million individual asylum cases. Now, that can be broken down further into the 540,000 individual claims that are pending before USCIS through the rest of Fiscal Year 2019, which ends on Monday.
In addition to that 540,000, there are 475,000 other individual claims that are currently pending before Department of Justice immigration judges as of the same closure of the fiscal year. That’s in excess of a million individual claims.
In addition to that current backlog, we are looking at an anticipated additional asylum load of 350,000 people in Fiscal Year 2020. We not only owe -- we have a legal obligation to adhere to these asylum claims and address them, but we also have an obligation to make sure that their cases are heard before any additional burdens on taken on.
And I would just note that this year’s refugee ceiling determination recognizes both the realities of our border crisis, which we’ve talked about as length, in addition -- and the limited -- the reality of our resource situation in the federal government.
And I’m going to pivot back to my colleague for some brief discussion on the executive order.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks very much. Appreciate that.
Let me turn now to the Executive Order on Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement, which the President is signing. At President Trump’s direction, refugees will be resettled only in jurisdictions where both state and local governments consent to receive them, with certain limited exceptions.
So why are we doing this? This is about setting up newly arrived refugees to succeed. Close cooperation with state and local government ensure that refugees are placed communities that are eager and equipped to support their successful integration into American society.
State and local governments are best positioned to know the resources and capacities they have available to devote to sustainable resettlement. So the administration wants to provide for closer coordination with them and a more clearly defined role for them in the process of selecting sites for initial resettlement.
With that, I believe we’re ready for questions and answers.
Q Thank you for taking this call. Can you just clarify: Is this a fiscal-year or calendar-year total? And can you compare it to recent years as to what the ceiling was? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can take that. This is on a fiscal-year basis. The Fiscal Year 2019 admissions sealing was 30,000. The Fiscal Year 2018 admissions sealing was 45,000.
Q Hi, there. Yes, how will these jurisdictions or communities be selected? And have they already been selected?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. The State Department is going to work out the details of the implementation on this. But we anticipate we will work with our non-governmental partners that currently do resettlement throughout the country to ensure we are gaining the consent of the state and local jurisdictions where they propose to resettle refugees.
Q Hi, thanks for doing the call. About the requirement that state and local officials consent, the executive order says that the consent letters (inaudible) be receiving will be posted publicly. What's the point of that? And isn't that a way just to allow the President or others to target these officials for attacks?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the point of posting the letters publicly is so that people can see what their political representatives are doing. It's, essentially, about transparency. And so, through this transparency, we hope to promote greater involvement of states and localities in the resettlement. Some states and localities may welcome greater resettlement and be prepared for it. Others are not prepared for it. And by being honest and letting us know that they can't handle it, that promotes better outcomes for refugees who are resettling.
Q Will they need permission to move once they've been placed somewhere? I mean, it seems a little draconian that these refugees -- unlike anyone else moving to the United States -- will need permission from the state and local government to live where they'll be living. I mean, can you address that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, let me clarify. This does not affect already resettled refugees. This only affects the Department of State's decision about where to place refugees once they arrive. Once refugees are admitted into the United States, they have the same freedom to move about as anyone else who's in the country.
Q Hi, yes, thanks for doing the call. I guess, I wanted to get your reaction. I guess, Trump has made protecting those fleeing religious freedom a key policy priority, and I know that groups advocating for religious freedom said that the prior 30,000 total cap was too little. How would you address, I guess, concerns that 5,000 is not a very high cap for those seeking that and -- those seeking entrance for those reasons?
And then, a second follow-up question was just if there will be a moratorium until mid-October for those who were already granted admission for the next fiscal year, or if October 1st there will be refugees heading in? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. I'll take that. So I would say that, compared to previous years where we had, sort of, broad allocations for regions that did not prioritize protection of believers or religious minorities or people persecuted on the basis of their faith, this is a particular improvement by having a specific allocation.
And I would say this is consistent with the high-level attention of this matter we saw just this week when the President delivered a keynote address at the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom event at U.N. Headquarters. Secretary Pompeo has also been in the forefront of this, hosting ministerials to advance religious freedom.
On your other question about the pause in refugee arrivals -- so, it's normal that we schedule a one-week delay for operational reasons at the beginning of every fiscal year. That's typical October 1 through 8. This year, we delayed it by two weeks. So, essentially, the people who were scheduled to arrive will arrive two weeks later, subject to the final presidential determination.
Now, to your point about when they will enter, no refugees can enter in fiscal year 2019 until the presidential determination issues.
Q I'm sorry, just a quick follow-up. When you say "two weeks later," that would be two weeks after October 8? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, that's correct. The current pause lasts through October 21st, inclusive. And so we anticipate refugee arrivals resuming October 22nd, provided the presidential determination issues before that time.
Q Hi. To the point of the designation for persecuted religious minorities, can you provide any more details, given that that includes quite a large number of specific subgroups from specific nations? Whether there will be, say, like a regional allocation within that, or how that 5,000 will be distributed.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, the proposal is as follows: It includes people who have been -- or, excuse me, refugees who have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of religion. Or those who qualify under the Lautenberg Inspector Amendments, which provide special access to our refugee admissions program for certain religious minority groups from the former Soviet Union and Iran.
Q Thanks for doing the call. So, two quick questions. Do you anticipate the presidential determination will be signed before October 1st? And if not, why not? And should it be signed before October 1st, with a moratorium (inaudible)?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'll take that. So, as a legal matter, we have to have consultations -- appropriate consultations with the Congress before the determination, in order to inform the determination. And so, our colleagues in the administration are working on scheduling those consultations with the Congress now.
Q Hi. Thanks very much for doing the call. Could you just recap the breakdown? I think it was 4,000 Iraqis, 5,000 religious persecution, and 1,500 from Northern Triangle, is what I have.
And then, how -- again, could you explain how that compares to years past? The previous year, we saw a cap of 30,000. The 12,000 differential, were there any specific groups cut out?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, I can take that. First, let me recap the proposal for Fiscal Year '20.
So, category one is: Refugees who have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of religion, or who qualify under the Lautenberg Inspector Amendments. That's 5,000.
Next category: Iraqis who assisted the United States, that’s 4,000. The technical -- actually, more technically defining that, those are refugees -- excuse me, Iraqis who would be resettled under the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007.
Next category: Refugees from the Northern Triangle -- that is El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras -- 1,500.
And then, the last is: Other refugees not covered by the foregoing categories. And that's 7,500, for a total of 18,000.
By comparison, last year's ceiling broke down as follows: Africa, 11,000; East Asia, 4,000; Europe and Central Asia, 3,000; Latin America and the Caribbean, 3,000; Near East and South Asia, 9,000 -- for a total of 30,000. That was Fiscal Year 2019.
Q Hi, thanks very much for doing the call. As you may be aware, Honduras and the other countries with which the administration has signed these agreements to resettle refugees are themselves very dangerous, high levels of violence and homicide. I wonder if you can respond to some of the criticism that’s come up that you're simply putting these refugees into potentially more risk than they faced in the countries from which they were fleeing.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can take that, from the DHS perspective. Can you just clarify the question as to whether it's related to the -- are you asking about the refugee allocation or are you asking about the asylum cooperative agreements?
Q I'm asking about the asylum cooperative agreements.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: All right. Well, I just -- you know, obviously the purpose of this call is to focus on refugee admissions proposal. And we have limited time, but I'll just say briefly that all the asylum cooperation agreements are done pursuant to a bilateral agreement and consistent with U.S. law, which includes -- you know, explicitly authorized by statute and includes several steps, which were pursuant to implement those agreements.
I would also say that another piece of the puzzle, which is consistent with the refugee proposal, is to work with our regional and international partners on addressing these issues cooperatively and also building the asylum capacity within our Central American partners so that they too can be receiving, as well as sending, countries and be part of a cooperative, long-term, durable, and regional solution to the current crisis.
Q Thanks for having the call. I have a question about the 1,500 from the Northern Triangle. Obviously, far more people than that are fleeing, and people are receiving asylum here from those countries. Do you think the 1,500 will be amenable to the Presidents of those countries, (inaudible) that Homeland Security is working with to try to curb mass migration? Have they agreed to that? Do they think that's okay? Have you floated that to them?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If I may, this is our -- this is the administration's proposal to the President -- excuse me, the administration's proposal to the Congress before the President issues the presidential determination. It's not something that is normally discussed or negotiated with foreign governments in advance. This is a matter of U.S. immigration law and U.S. foreign policy.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And if I could just add with respect to the numbers, I think as my colleague highlighted at the top, something that’s very important is that there is -- you know, very few of the folks from Central American countries that come to this country are found to have meritorious claims. But if, in fact, they have meritorious claims, we would encourage them to seek protection, potentially -- you know, look --
This proposal offers them the opportunity to seek protection close to home rather than making the dangerous journey to the United States, which is often facilitated by smugglers and criminal organizations.
And we'll obviously have to see how the year goes. But again, the vast majority of the claims are not meritorious. And if you look at last year's numbers based on a regional allocation, we're now shifting to a more -- an allocation that's more closely tied to the U.S. national interest.
We did not fill all of the available slots in Latin America this past year. And so, I think this would be an opportunity -- this proposal is an opportunity, it goes hand-in-hand with our regional strategy, to encourage folks that if you do have a meritorious claim, seek protection as a refugee close to home.
Q Hi, thanks for having this. I know you mentioned that this decision partly stems from the screenings that USCIS has to do for credible fear and also those for migrants placed in the migrant protection protocols or Remain in Mexico Policy.
So is it also within the administration’s strategy to hire more asylum workers to be able to do this, not just cut these spots available for refugee status? Because I know, for example, Border Patrol has a pilot program to start conducting some of these screenings, but is USCIS planning on hiring more officers?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I can take the one.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can take that one. We are in the process of hiring. I mean, this is public information and we do understand that part of that is -- part of the ability for us to tackle the problem we’re seeing at the southern border is to obtain more people who are qualified to do the screenings. But we’re in the process of doing that, and this is public domain information. So, yeah. But we are working on it.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And just more broadly, again, you know, part of solution could be more manpower, but if you think about, sort of, the two lines of effort -- refugees and asylees -- we’re so far -- the backlog is staggering, just, you know, with the new (inaudible) asylum. Yeah, 300,000-plus cases; more than 500,000 individuals. And that doesn’t even include other lines of effort and some of the folks that are in these Department of Justice EOIR system.
That when you’re talking about a non-discretionary caseload of folks who are already here, by the hundreds of thousands, and you’ve got folks who have meritorious claims unfairly delayed, and then you’ve also got folks that do not have meritorious claims that are remaining year after year, it is common sense from the perspective of good government, from the perspective of what we owe folks, and from the perspective of national security and foreign policy to focus on that massive non-discretionary backlog. And to not just do refugee admissions in isolation, but holistically as part of the overall humanitarian workload that allows America to remain the most generous nation in the world.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you, Moderator. I think that will be it.
Everybody, thank you for joining. Again, we’ll work on a transcript. And in the meantime, if you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to each out to DHS, State press offices, and as well as NSC.
As a reminder, this call is embargoed until the call concludes. And everything on the call is for attribution to a senior administration official. That’s it for me.
END 6:02 P.M. EDT
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