Minnesota resettlement contractors not increasing
their refugee intake in FY2017, by
Ann Corcoran 11/21/16
Schwartz, the Humphrey
School dean, said the 110,000 national number for the year is a ceiling, not a
legal obligation binding the new government.
Actually I don’t think they will
have to worry about taking their share of the huge number Obama proposed for
FY2017—110,000—because Trump will surely reduce that number one way or another.
For our readers in Minnesota this is
a very useful article with lots of details about the contractors and the cities
in which they are placing refugees. Seems one big limiting factor is
affordable housing! I sure hope one of the Trump Admins first actions
will be to kill Obama’s Affirmatively Furthering FAIR
Housing initiative!
Minnesota, one of the nation’s
busiest resettlement destinations, is aiming to keep its refugee arrivals
steady in 2017. Faced with a housing shortage and other constraints, the state is
forgoing a larger role in an almost 30 percent national increase the Obama
administration announced earlier this fall.
Now, that Obama goal and the
nation’s longer-term approach are in question as a Donald Trump administration
prepares to take over. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to pause resettlement from
“terror-prone regions” and took aim at Somali refugees in Minnesota. But he has
not addressed the overall number of refugees the country resettles each year.
“There is complete and total uncertainty,” said Eric Schwartz, dean of the University of
Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a former federal official who
oversaw refugee admissions in the Obama administration.
In the fiscal year that ended in
September, Minnesota took in 2,630 refugees, a 15 percent increase over
previous year.
Kristina Hammell of Catholic
Charities in the Diocese of Winona says her agency is running into housing
shortages in the Rochester area as well. “If we can’t find affordable housing, we
aren’t doing refugees any great favors,” she said.
See my recent post: Obama’s 110,000 is a CEILING and
Trump can turn off the spigot on January 21, 2017. He can PAUSE THE WHOLE
PROGRAM!
Schwartz, the Humphrey School dean, said the 110,000 national number
for the year is a ceiling, not a legal obligation binding the new government. Although Trump has criticized resettlement from
countries including Syria and Somalia, he has not discussed the United States’
role in addressing the global migrant crisis.
Presumably, the administration could
block resettlement from some regions and shift admissions to others, but that
would be a significant logistical challenge, Schwartz said.
This last is wishful thinking I
believe. Since the contractors are paid by the head and their salaries,
office rent etc. depend on your tax dollars, I think they are hoping if Trump
suspends resettlement from say Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and so forth that he will make it up
with numbers from non-Muslim countries. I doubt it.
It is best to pause the
whole program on January 21st and then “find out what is going on!” (As Trump
frequently intoned on the campaign trail!)
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