U.S. Turns Away Refugees in High Numbers

[DuctapeFatwa]

The United States will admit about 25,000 refugees by the end of the current budget year, a low for a nation founded by people fleeing persecution. Experts blame both terrorism fears and an obsolete asylum program that still lists "Soviets" as one of the top five nationalities that deserve U.S. protection.

The total number of resettlements as of Sept. 16 -- the current fiscal year concludes at the end of this month -- is only half the 50,000 admissions quota approved by President Bush for 2003. That ceiling itself was a new low..."We're seeing a total deterioration," said Joel Charny, an analyst for Refugees International, a Washington-based lobby group.

In an era in which the administration has defined as a "war on terrorism," few members of Congress are pounding podiums to demand that the country open its doors wider to foreigners. More typical is legislation sponsored U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., who recently introduced a broad bill meant to keep immigrants from any "known terrorist state" from entering the United States...."In fact, 90 percent of the world's population cannot be considered for asylum in the United States,"...

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-ref...

[Jim Sagle]

1. Good.

[Tatiana]

2. Not surprising.

Everyone else is a threat to our security. Everyone except right-wing Cubans, of course.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Refugees are refused. Illegal immigrants can't be stopped. This seems

inconsistent.

Or is it an arbitrary argument that one demographic asks permission to go through established protocol to live in the United States and the other just accomplishes breaking and entering via unsecured borders.

Not to mention the administration is considering amnesty and permission to stay to the latter group as there are too many of them in order to make them accountable.