NCPA - Daily Policy Digest - Flow of Refugees to U.S. Drying Up

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Flow of Refugees to U.S. Drying Up

The number of international refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. has slowed to a trickle, authorities report, as heightened security measures have cut off the flow in recent months. Refugee-support agencies and personnel have seen their funding cut along with demand for their services.

Screening for terrorists cut the number of refugees coming into the country to 27,000 last year, from 68,000 in 2001.

Under 4,000 arrived in the past four months.

The State Department -- which pays private social-service agencies for each refugee they assist -- has experienced a sharp drop in demands for payments.

In 2001, 10 agencies collected $59 million for their efforts -- a figure which slumped to $21 million in 2002.

The U.S. Catholic Conference told its resettlement staff to expect a 35 percent cut this year -- and Church World Service, an arm of the National Council of Churches, may close 2 of 40 refugee offices by July.

Persons granted asylum can get federal aid for a month if agencies drum up private aid to match.

Among the 12 million people designated as refugees by the United Nations, only a tiny fraction find their way to the West each year; of those, the U.S. takes half.

Source: Barry Newman, "Tightened U.S. Security Keeps Asylum Seekers at Bay," Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2003.

For text (WSJ subscription required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1044833228872713383-search,00.html

For more on Immigration Policy
http://www.ncpa.org/iss/imm/

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