{"id":14538,"date":"2017-07-17T14:26:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T18:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=14538"},"modified":"2018-12-28T12:44:01","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T17:44:01","slug":"deep-state-goes-rogue-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2017\/07\/17\/deep-state-goes-rogue-refugees\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Deep State’ Goes Rogue on Refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Donald J. Trump was elected president, he knew he\u2019d face opposition to his main policy objectives by the Democratic Party and activist judges. Now the\u201cDeep State” inside his own U.S. State Department<\/a> is defying the White House, wasting tax dollars and endangering Americans by lifting restrictions on refugees entering this country.<\/p>\n

In a protest letter to the president, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, put the move in blunt context:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe State Department announcement came the same week that the son of a Libyan refugee committed a horrific act of terrorism in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The week before, individuals from Pakistan, Libya and Morocco savagely killed seven people in brutal attacks in London.\u201d<\/p>\n

State\u2019s maneuver was revealed in an email to private agencies that help refugees settle in the United States. The New York Times quoted State Department officer Jennifer L. Smith\u2019s email as saying refugee groups could now process people \u201cunconstrained by the weekly quotas that were in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

In circumventing Trump\u2019s call for tighter vetting, the embedded bureaucrats at State say they are using funding from the department\u2019s Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) program. The funds support the processing of 70,000 incoming refugees.<\/p>\n

But MRA regulations give the administration discretion to allocate the dollars to refugee processing or<\/em>, alternatively,<\/em> to support refugees in or near their homelands.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the latter option makes more sense \u2013 both in terms of economy and security. Studies show that for every one refugee brought to the U.S., MRA could aid 12 refugees overseas with food, shelter and basic necessities in designated safe zones.<\/p>\n

FAIR: What is your governor saying about Syrian refugees?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A graver concern centers on national security risks. According to the FBI, 300 of the bureau\u2019s ongoing 2,000 domestic terrorism cases involve refugees. Does the left hand (State) not know what the right hand (FBI) is doing? Does it care?<\/p>\n

Digging a deeper hole, the Trump administration is moving forward with an Obama administration plan to bring in illegal-immigrant boat people denied entry to Australia.<\/p>\n

The deal \u2013 which includes nearly 1,000 asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan, countries subject to restrictions under Trump\u2019s executive order \u2013 will employ the International Rescue Committee. Partially funded by the State Department, the IRC would screen the refugees and receive payment for each person resettled here.<\/p>\n

While IRC may have a pecuniary conflict of interest, Trump\u2019s more rigorous vetting of refugees has had some effect. The U.S. accepted 2,070 refugees in March, the lowest monthly total since 2013, according to State Department data. April ended with 3,316 refugees admitted, the second-lowest total.<\/p>\n

House Resolution 80<\/a>, sponsored by Rep. Babin, would sensibly impose a moratorium on America\u2019s refugee program until federal agencies can certify it is not a security threat. As candidate Trump once put it: \u201cUntil we know what the hell is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither the White House nor the State Department has responded to the Texas congressman\u2019s June 7 letter. While HR 80, with 74 cosponsors, awaits a hearing in the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, the president should rescind his State Department\u2019s directive and scrap the problematic agreement with Australia before more damage is done.