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Press Release // Refugee Resettlement

Statement – Nearly 200 Elected Officials Urge President Trump to Resettle 75K Refugees

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LIRS Staff

August 29, 2017

Media Contact: Miji Bell | mbell@lirs.org | 410-230-2841

On August 28, 2017, nearly 200 local and state elected representatives from 31 states submitted a letter to President Trump expressing their strong support for resettling refugees in their states and communities, and urging him to resettle at least 75,000 refugees in the U.S. in Fiscal Year 2018. The letter was sent in anticipation of the Presidential Determination that would outline the number of refugees to be resettled through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

After President Trump signed the travel and refugee ban executive order, which has since been partially implemented and is currently being challenged at the Supreme Court, the refugee resettlement program has been halted – with the exception of those with “bona fide” relationships to the United States. While former President Obama in his Presidential Determination for Fiscal Year 2017 set the number at 110,000 refugees, President Trump lowered the number to 50,000 in his executive order, the lowest refugee ceiling in over three decades.

Therefore, the undersigned nearly 200 elected officials are calling on President Trump to allow at least 75,000 refugees to be admitted this upcoming fiscal year, to help ensure that thousands of refugees can continue to find safe haven in the United States.

Founded in 1939, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is the second largest refugee resettlement agency in the United States. It is nationally recognized for its leadership advocating with refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, immigrants in detention, families fractured by migration and other vulnerable populations. Through more than 75 years of service and advocacy, LIRS has helped over 500,000 migrants and refugees rebuild their lives in America.

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