WASHINGTON—On September 27, 2017,
the Administration, in a consultation with Congress, proposed to only admit up
to 45,000 refugees to the United States in fiscal year 2018. This Presidential
Determination (PD) for Refugee Admissions is the lowest since the founding of
the program in 1980 and marks the second consecutive year that the new
Administration has reduced the PD. Currently there are 65 million displaced
people and 22 million refugees worldwide.

Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin,
Texas, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration,
issued the following statement:

“We are disturbed and deeply
disappointed by the proposed Presidential Determination number of 45,000 for
the upcoming fiscal year. While the Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities, and
Catholic communities across the country join in welcoming all of those refugees
to American communities with joy and open arms, we are gravely concerned for
the tens of thousands of extremely vulnerable refugees left behind by this
decision.

“As I have stated before, this
decision has very severe human consequences—people with faces, names, children
and families are suffering and cannot safely or humanely remain where they are
until the war and persecution in their countries of origin gets resolved. These
people include at-risk women and children; frightened youth; the elderly; those
whose lives are threatened because of their religion, ethnicity or race; and
refugees seeking family reunification with loved
ones in the United States.

“Each refugee that comes to the United
States is admitted through an extensive vetting system. Many of these refugees already have family in
the United States, and most begin working immediately to rebuild their lives;
in turn contributing to the strength and richness of our society. God has blessed our country with bounty and
precious liberty, and so we have great capacity to welcome those in such
desperate need, while ensuring our nation’s security.

“The same day of the consultation,
Pope Francis exhorted us to ‘reach out, open your arms to migrants and
refugees, share the journey.’ We urge the Administration to move past this
period of intensified scrutiny and skepticism of the U.S. refugee program,
which serves as an international model. This is a moment of opportunity to
restore America’s historic leadership as a refuge for those fleeing
persecution. We urge the Administration
to welcome and resettle every one of the refugees eventually authorized for
FY2018. Looking ahead, we strongly urge the Administration next year to return
to the level of resettling at least 75,000 refugees annually to the United
States. We can and must do better.”

—

Keywords: Bishop Joe S. Vásquez,
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, USCCB Committee on Migration, Presidential
Determination, refugee admissions, family reunification, refugee resettlement, welcoming
the stranger, U.S. security, Pope Francis, Share the Journey.

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Media Contact:
Judy Keane
202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops