Our Commitment to Iraqi Refugees
Today, both Senior Advisor for Iraqi Refugees Lori Scialabba and I testified before Congress on welcoming Iraqi refugees to the U.S. Bottom line -- since last spring, more than 3,559 Iraqi refugees have been admitted to our country and we expect many more in the coming months.
Make no mistake that the Iraqi refugee program is a top priority for this department. We are committed to working with the State Department and other program partners to welcome as many eligible Iraqi refugees as possible to the U.S. Every effort will continue to be made to provide protection to qualified refugees from Iraq as we work to ensure that the Iraqi refugee population is not infiltrated by individuals seeking to harm the United States. We have a moral and humanitarian obligation to help the people of Iraq equal to our obligation to also remain vigilant to preserve our national security.
Since the spring of 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers have interviewed Iraqis in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon. During FY2007, USCIS interviewed nearly 4,500 Iraqi refugee applicants; we anticipate that more than 8,400 interviews will have been completed by the end of the first half of FY2008, for a total of over 12,000 interviews to date. We expect both the number of interviews and the number of admitted applicants to rise in the coming months.
In just a few months time, Lori Scialabba, her counterpart at the Department of State – Ambassador James Foley – and all our partners have worked tirelessly to help guide and streamline our efforts to resettle Iraqi refugees in the U.S.
One recent change -- in-country refugee processing in Iraq to offer resettlement to embassy staff and their immediate family members in Baghdad who are at risk of persecution based on their association with the U.S. government. The first group of referrals from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad includes 31 staff and their immediate family members who, if approved, will receive expedited processing.
We currently have 20 USCIS employees in the region performing Iraqi processing and many other employees here in Washington devoting substantial time to this effort. We have also begun new hiring for our Refugee Corps, increasing the base level of 47 positions to 62 this year. Further, we are leveraging more of our Asylum Division employees to conduct interviews; we expect that asylum officers will assist in adjudicating half of the refugee cases we will process this year.
We’re the first to say that there is more work to be done, but important progress is being made. On average, the total processing time for Iraqi cases is significantly less than for any other refugee group worldwide. In fact, Iraqi refugees are able to enter the U.S. in four to six months – certainly much faster than refugees from anywhere else in the world.
We pledge -- along with our State Department colleagues and other partners -- to further the humanitarian mission of admitting Iraqi refugees while at the same time ensuring the highest standards of security for our homeland.
Emilio T. Gonzalez
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Make no mistake that the Iraqi refugee program is a top priority for this department. We are committed to working with the State Department and other program partners to welcome as many eligible Iraqi refugees as possible to the U.S. Every effort will continue to be made to provide protection to qualified refugees from Iraq as we work to ensure that the Iraqi refugee population is not infiltrated by individuals seeking to harm the United States. We have a moral and humanitarian obligation to help the people of Iraq equal to our obligation to also remain vigilant to preserve our national security.
Since the spring of 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers have interviewed Iraqis in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon. During FY2007, USCIS interviewed nearly 4,500 Iraqi refugee applicants; we anticipate that more than 8,400 interviews will have been completed by the end of the first half of FY2008, for a total of over 12,000 interviews to date. We expect both the number of interviews and the number of admitted applicants to rise in the coming months.
In just a few months time, Lori Scialabba, her counterpart at the Department of State – Ambassador James Foley – and all our partners have worked tirelessly to help guide and streamline our efforts to resettle Iraqi refugees in the U.S.
One recent change -- in-country refugee processing in Iraq to offer resettlement to embassy staff and their immediate family members in Baghdad who are at risk of persecution based on their association with the U.S. government. The first group of referrals from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad includes 31 staff and their immediate family members who, if approved, will receive expedited processing.
We currently have 20 USCIS employees in the region performing Iraqi processing and many other employees here in Washington devoting substantial time to this effort. We have also begun new hiring for our Refugee Corps, increasing the base level of 47 positions to 62 this year. Further, we are leveraging more of our Asylum Division employees to conduct interviews; we expect that asylum officers will assist in adjudicating half of the refugee cases we will process this year.
We’re the first to say that there is more work to be done, but important progress is being made. On average, the total processing time for Iraqi cases is significantly less than for any other refugee group worldwide. In fact, Iraqi refugees are able to enter the U.S. in four to six months – certainly much faster than refugees from anywhere else in the world.
We pledge -- along with our State Department colleagues and other partners -- to further the humanitarian mission of admitting Iraqi refugees while at the same time ensuring the highest standards of security for our homeland.
Emilio T. Gonzalez
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Labels: citizenship, USCIS
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