The Trump administration recently announced its intention to set a refugee ceiling of just 18,000 for fiscal year 2020, cutting the number of refugees allowed into the United States to a historic low. It is a clear sign to the world that America is abandoning its moral leadership.
By lowering the refugee ceiling, the United States will be abandoning its commitment to the 1951 UN Convention, which ensured host countries were responsible for refugees’ rights to work, move freely, and receive justice and protection. The 1951 Refugee Convention was adopted by the United States following the country’s failure to accept refugees during the Holocaust. Scant decades later, it seems we have already forgotten the horrific tragedies that led to the Convention’s adoption.
Now embraced by most of the world, the protocol has rescued millions of people from slaughter since its ratification. Horrific genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia could have been even much worse had neighboring countries not opened their borders for fleeing refugees.
If the administration’s refugee cap goes into effect, it will send a signal to hosting countries around the globe that they, too, could abandon their responsibilities toward refugees. The U.S. government has cited the 1951 Convention in previous attempts to pressure countries around the globe to abide by their responsibilities; now we are stepping precariously close to hypocrisy.
The decision will also have a long-term negative impact on the U.S. military’s operations overseas. Our military has a long history of recruiting local interpreters to assist with its global operations. These interpreters put their lives and their families in danger as they provide valuable services to the men and women of the U.S. armed forces. They have saved many American lives. The refugee resettlement programs have resettled thousands of Afghan and Iraqi interpreters and their families over the last decade, because the United States promises safety and shelter to those interpreters in return for their service.
While the proposed ceiling allocates up to 4,000 spots for Iraqis who have assisted U.S. forces, a bipartisan letter from Congress in March estimated a backlog of more than 100,000 cases. The proposal also does not allocate spots for Afghan interpreters, whose admission rate dropped 60% between fiscal years 2016 to 2017. Further, due to the slow pace of the process it is unlikely that the 4,000 spots will be filled. Three hundred twenty-five Iraqi interpreters were admitted in fiscal year 2016, 196 in fiscal year 2017, and only 2 in fiscal year 2018 – a more than 99% decline over the last 3 years, according to statistics from the USCIS. Considering that these interpreters have already been vetted extensively before they can work for the U.S. army, there should not be security concerns to clear them to come to the United States.
Abandoning our commitment to them will, in the words of the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson, “bolster the propaganda of our enemies.” This is already happening. During my last trip to Iraq, I was approached by two Iraqi interpreters who worked for the U.S. Army. They asked me nervously about the rumors of being left behind with their families to face their fate.
There are more than 60 million displaced people in our world today. The scale of the crisis means that no single country can deal with it alone. Though the United States resettles no more than one-half of one percent of the world’s refugees, it is still a symbolic gesture of America’s moral stand against the injustices facing refugees. The administration's announcement is sending the wrong message to less affluent countries that are supporting large numbers of refugees, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Pakistan.
The proposed refugee ceiling degrades America’s historical role as a leading advocate for human rights. For over two centuries, America has been a “city upon a hill.” Who are we without these principles? By abandoning the weak and persecuted, we become weak ourselves.
Dr. Issam Smeir is a Senior Mental Health Clinician with World Relief and the co-author of Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody Publishers, 2016).
