A number of refugee groups have sounded the alarm after a report said President Donald Trump’s administration is considering an overhaul of the United States refugee system to favor white people.
Proposals presented to the White House earlier this year would give preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration, The New York Times reported this week.
Refugees groups slammed the reported proposals, with one telling Newsweek that such plans are “profoundly harmful” and “contrary to core American values.”
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department and the White House for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
Why It Matters
The U.S. has long been a leader in the resettlement of refugees, but the reported proposals would transform a program intended to help the most vulnerable people in the world at a time when forcible displacement is on the rise globally.
U.S. and international law say that refugee admissions must be based on a credible fear of persecution, and prohibit discrimination based on race, religion or ethnicity.
The reported proposals come at a time when the Trump administration is engaged in an aggressive crackdown on immigration in U.S. cities, after Trump campaigned on a pledge to carry out the largest mass deportation in American history.
What To Know
The Times reported that the plans were presented to the White House earlier this year by State Department and Department of Homeland Security officials after Trump directed the agencies to examine whether refugee resettlement was in the interest of the country.
According to documents obtained by the newspaper, the proposals suggest allowing entry only to refugees who “fully and appropriately assimilate, and are aligned with the president’s objectives.”
They also suggest prioritizing Europeans who have been “targeted for peaceful expression of views online such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties.”
Administration officials have not ruled out any of the ideas, according to The Times, which cited unnamed people familiar with the planning.
But some of the proposals have already been enacted, the newspaper noted, including cutting refugee admissions and proritizing Afrikaners, the white minority who created and enforced South Africa’s system of apartheid.
Trump halted refugee admissions after returning to office in January, saying the country “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees.”
The Trump administration announced a new scheme in February to accept Afrikaners even as other refugee programs remain paused. The administration says the white South African farmers face discrimination and violence in South Africa, which the country’s government denies.
Earlier in October, Reuters reported that Trump is considering setting a refugee admissions cap at 7,500 people this fiscal year, a record low.
Lisa D’Annunzio, the executive director of Asylum Access, hit back at the reported proposals. She told Newsweek people seeking refuge in the U.S. “deserve compassion and protection, not policies rooted in racism and xenophobia.”
Bridget Cusick, the vice president of marketing, communications and outreach at Jesus Refugee Service USA, said the U.S.’s policies and systems should serve those in real need who can safely be resettled in numbers that reflect our nation’s longstanding generosity toward the “tired, poor, homeless, tempest-tost” the Statue of Liberty famously welcomes.”
What People Are Saying
Lisa D’Annunzio, the executive director of Asylum Access, told Newsweek: “The Trump administration’s proposed overhaul of the U.S. refugee system is alarming, profoundly harmful, and contrary to core American values. People seeking safety deserve compassion and protection, not policies rooted in racism and xenophobia.”
Bridget Cusick, the vice president of marketing, communications and outreach at Jesus Refugee Service USA, told Newsweek: “Since 1980, more than 3 million thoroughly vetted refugees have come to the United States, seeking refuge due to well documented instances of persecution and fear based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. This has both saved lives and redounded enormously to our benefit economically, culturally, and socially. At a time where tens of millions of refugees around the world have suffered immense harms and are in need of resettlement or other durable solutions, the U.S.’s policies and systems should serve those in real need who can safely be resettled in numbers that reflect our nation’s longstanding generosity toward the “tired, poor, homeless, tempest-tost” the Statue of Liberty famously welcomes.”
In response to reports the Trump administration is planning to cut refugee admissions to a record low, Naomi Steinberg, vice president of U.S. policy and advocacy at HIAS, the Jewish nonprofit organization providing services to refugees and asylum seekers, said: “A refugee program of this nature would deliberately leave vulnerable people in danger all around the world, rendering it unrecognizable. It would be a betrayal of our proud and bipartisan legacy of welcoming refugees, a tradition that is also shared across faith communities across the country.”
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, said earlier in October: “The U.S. refugee admissions program is one of the few remaining expressions of America’s humanitarian leadership on the world stage. To drastically lower the admissions cap and concentrate the majority of available slots on one group would mark a profound departure from decades of bipartisan refugee policy rooted in law, fairness, and global responsibility.”
Vignarajah added: “What refugee families need most is a pathway to protection that is consistent, principled, and grounded in the promise that every life matters equally, not just the few who fit a favored profile.”
Thomas Pigott, a spokesman for the State Department, told the Times: “It should come as no surprise that the State Department is implementing the priorities of the duly elected president of the United States.”
He added: “This administration unapologetically prioritizes the interests of the American people.”
What’s Next
Although some proposals have been enacted, it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration fully implements the reported proposals to overhaul the refugee system.
