Peters Leads Letter Urging Departments of State and Homeland Security to Improve U.S. Capability to Accept, Accommodate Refugees

Statement

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today announced he has joined his colleagues Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) and Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ) in leading a letter to the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security (DHS), urging both departments to take immediate action to address the burdensome processes that unnecessarily delay refugee processing in the country. In the letter, Peters and his colleagues commended the Administration's plan to increase the number of refugees brought to the U.S. and also advised the Departments to make changes to the current processing systems to ensure that the greater numbers of refugees can be accepted and processed in a timely and effective manner. Joining Peters, Blumenthal and Pascrell on the letter were 11 Senators and 70 Representatives.

"We urge you to work with Congress through the budget and appropriations process to allocate sufficient resources to effectively increase and thoroughly screen applicants for resettlement in the United States," wrote Peters and his colleagues. "Likewise, the Administration can and should institute reforms to boost the number of refugees processed by taking the following actions which do not require additional resources."

In the letter, the members recommended the Administration take three specific steps to strengthen the country's ability to process refugees:

Expand the "Priority 3" program that allows all refugees with relatives legally residing in the United States to apply to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for screening and resettlement, rather than first seeking referral from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees or other referring entity. Currently, this program is limited to applicants with a family member who was first granted legal status in the United States as a refugee or asylee.

Improve coordination to end the repeat security checks that expire while refugees are still being processed. Refugees go through multiple screenings before arriving in the United States, with each screening valid for only a limited time. Some applicants are forced to undergo repeat screenings as the security check expires while they wait for others to be completed, a waste of resources and a source of needless delay. This letter calls for expanding the validity period of screenings in cases where doing so would not compromise the integrity of the check, and for agencies to increase coordination to allow for checks to be expedited when necessary to avoid duplication.

Inform families when some, but not all, family members have been cleared. At the moment, the Administration waits for all members of a family to be approved for resettlement before notification. A single family member's application could hold up the ability of all other family members to safely resettle--leaving others at risk of injury or death. This letter calls for the Administration to consider expediting approvals of these cases when possible. If applications cannot be expedited, family members should still be told when individual applicants have been approved, giving applicants the option to decide whether they prefer to remain with their family members or accept admission to the United States.

"Ultimately, it will take the inclusive effort of the international community to create a stable environment in Syria," wrote Peters and his colleagues. "In the interim, it is our moral duty to address this growing humanitarian disaster and allow families to be reunified. Syrians who are resettled would enjoy the support of active and engaged Syrian-American communities around the United States. These families would have a home ready for them and a source of financial support."

Last month, Senator Peters sent a letter to President Obama urging the United States to resettle at least 100,000 refugees from Syria and persecuted religious minority refugees in both Iraq and Syria in the coming years, including 30,000 refugees in fiscal year 2016. Senator Peters additionally sent a letter with his colleagues to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson requesting information about the possibility of refugee interviews being conducted via videoconferencing in war-torn regions too dangerous for U.S. personnel to conduct in-person interviews.

In September, Senators Peters and Chris Murphy (CT) traveled to the Middle East to meet with officials in Iraq, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In addition to holding meetings to discuss ongoing anti-ISIS military operations in Iraq and Syria, Peters and Murphy visited Za'atari Refugee Camp in Jordan to learn firsthand about the critical role that the United States and its allies play in providing humanitarian assistance to millions of Syrian refugees.

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