As the the refugee crisis worsens, President Obama has directed his administration to resettle at least 10,000 Syrians over the course of the year, reports The New York Times.
Pressure on the U.S. has been mounting from European nations to increase its promised quota of 2,000.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest made the announcement Sept. 10.
According to The New York Times,
The announcement brought a variety of reactions that underscored how the refugee crisis has become another polarized political question. Aid groups called the administration’s action a token one given the size of the American economy and population, while a number of Republicans warned that Mr. Obama was allowing in potential terrorists. “Our enemy now is Islamic terrorism, and these people are coming from a country filled with Islamic terrorists,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York. “We don’t want another Boston Marathon bombing situation.”
The United States once offered refuge to tens of thousands at a time. In 1979, it provided sanctuary to 111,000 Vietnamese refugees and in 1980 almost doubled that number to 207,000. Around the same time, the United States took in more than 120,000 Cuban refugees during the Mariel boatlift, including more than 80,000 in one month alone.
Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who wrote a letter along with 14 other Democrats urging Mr. Obama to take an additional 65,000 Syrian refugees, praised his pledge to take 10,000 Syrian refugees next year as “a step in the right direction.”
Sojourners has recently called for action on behalf of the refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern nations, as well as the refugees coming to the U.S. from Central America.
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