Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The number of refugees coming to America has sharply declined in the past two years, as security measures have increased for newcomers in the most turbulent parts of the world.
Though her husband disappeared, her father-in-law was murdered and she was forced to flee Somalia pregnant, with three young children in tow, Ferdows Omer still calls herself a lucky woman.
Beating odds that are tougher today than years ago, the 26-year-old single mother and her family received refugee status and arrived in Utah two weeks ago to begin a new life.
The number of refugees coming to America has sharply declined in the past two years, as security measures have increased for newcomers in the most turbulent parts of the world.
"As credible threat information emerged, we had to enhance our screening process for the refugee program in order to make sure we were keeping our country safe,"said Deborah Sisbarro, public-affairs adviser for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in the State Department.
The decrease in arrivals — nearly 17,000 fewer refugees in 2011 than in 2010 — follows the high-profile arrest of two Iraqi refugees in 2011 on terrorism charges after they were resettled in Kentucky. They allegedly planned to send weapons to anti-American insurgents in Iraq. The FBI caught them in a sting. One of the men had left his fingerprints on an unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq before coming to the U.S. as a refugee.
Refugees are legal immigrants brought to the U.S. because of persecution or threat of persecution. Iraqis and Somalis are two of the largest groups arriving in recent years, both from regions where terrorism concerns remain high. Verifying an applicant's identity can be difficult when no legitimate government exists or records are inaccessible.
In consultation with Congress, the White House recommends an annual refugee limit, which stands at 80,000 for 2012.
In 2011, 56,424 refugees arrived in the U.S., compared with 73,311 the year before.
Halfway into this federal fiscal year, the U.S. has welcomed 21,836 refugees, though federal officials continue to assure resettlement workers that numbers will climb.