Pascrell Condemns Refugee Cap

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) spoke out in strong opposition to the announcement this afternoon by the Trump administration that it would allow in no more 30,000 refugees in 2019.

“There are a host of agencies and communities ready to welcome refugees fleeing war, ethnic cleansing, and famine. By setting next year’s refugee cap at another historic low, the Trump administration continues to show contempt for those most in need. It is unconscionable they would justify a lower cap by pitting refugees against asylum seekers. At every turn, Trump has erected hurdles to clog the flow of immigrant resettlement in the United States. Because of the barricades this year, the administration is not going to meet the cap for 2018. I worry they will do the same going forward. Before we know it, Trump will set the number close to zero. Congress must demand this administration reverse course. The need is out there. The world is watching.”

For years, Rep. Pascrell has been one of the House of Representative’s foremost leaders in calling for American leadership in the refugee crisis and in his criticism of the nation’s slow acceptance of refugees. In May, Rep. Pascrell led a letter signed by 126 of his colleagues demanding answers from Donald Trump on his administration’s refugee policies. Included in the letter were several questions on the admittance of Iraq refugees. A copy of the letter is available here. The administration never formally answered any of the questions in the letter. In October 2017, Pascrell led 120 of his colleagues in a letter to Donald Trump assailing his decision to set a painfully low cap for refugee admissions for 2018, and rejecting reported changes to the resettlement process to require refugees to meet an assimilation standard. In September 2017, Pascrell condemned the Trump administration’s slashing of America’s acceptance rate of refugees, saying the decision “shows no compassion, no sense of history, and no moral courage.” Leading 109 House members in May 2017, Pascrell wrote to Trump demanding that he rescind his Executive Order suspending the Refugee Admissions Program and increase support for humanitarian aid programs that assist Syrians in crisis. Pascrell attacked Donald Trump’s refugee restrictions announced at the start of his term as “religious discrimination” that turned “a blind eye to the families seeking escape from war and devastation in search of a better life.”

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