Volunteering with refugees

[robertgoodman]

1) Refugees are already in America
2) Refugees are coming to America

As long as 1 and 2 are true we need people to help the refugees integrate into our society, and what Jrz is attempting to do is highly beneficial. Whether you worship an elephant or a donkey that should in no way be controversial.

People can debate whether 1 or 2 should be true until their entire lives and still not get everyone to agree -which it seems like this thread is trying to do-. However, that debate has nothing to do with helping refugees when they are already here, or are legally on their way here. Proclaiming that people should not be helping refugees because they feel the refugees shouldn't be coming here completely ignores the reality that they are already here or are coming. If people listened to the appeals to stop helping refugees within our society it would only further isolate and marginalize those refugees, which is the last thing we need.

[headingtoDenver]

Wow. I just read all of these pages and I am baffled about some people on here. Who are any of us to say how someone should donate their time? If someone wants to donate their time to help refugees, that is on them. If someone wants to donate their time to help veterans, that is also on them and this is coming from a veteran. I'm just glad that there are people in this world willing to help out.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

Countries that don't have proper border controls cease to be countries. I shudder to think what it will be like in the US in 2050.

One more. I can't resist because you are so absent of the facts it makes me cringe every time I read one of your posts. I sincerely hope you take the time to read all of this because it is knowledge that will help you sound less like an uninformed ape.

This isn't about strong borders. We have a very strong refugee immigration policy in place. It takes nearly two full years for someone to qualify. That's right, TWO YEARS. This means that Syrian refugees coming in now were in the line to come in before the ISIS conflict even started.

The first key point is that Syrians who have fled into neighboring countries cannot apply for resettlement in the United States — they must be referred to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

UNHCR handpicks these refugees who are in the most need of protection only after the U.N. has collected their identity documents, recorded their bio-data information, conducted iris scans, and interviewed them to determine that they are truly in need of resettlement.

Second, when refugees are considered for resettlement in the United States, they must be outside their countries of origin, residing in countries that are unable to provide adequate protection or rights for them. In the case of Syrians, this means that the United States would never be accepting refugees from within Syria. Nor can there be resettlement to the United States from any of the European countries where refugees have fled to recently.

Following the first resettlement interview with UNHCR a caseworker determines that the individuals on the case meet the refugee criteria as spelled out in the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

When UNHCR has confidence that the individuals are strong candidates for resettlement, the agency sends a referral to a resettlement country government.

Now begins the part where the refugee must qualify by US standards.

If a case is referred for resettlement to the United States, the information is received by one of nine federally funded Resettlement Support Centers (RSCs) around the world that are closely monitored by the State Department. These offices collect identity documents, create a file for each case, and then re-interview the individuals being considered. It is at this point that biographic security checks begin with U.S. security agencies — including the National Counterterrorism Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the State Department. These checks are repeated anytime new information is provided — and for Syrian refugees, this information undergoes an enhanced review.In another set of interviews, U.S. citizen and immigration officers — operating under the DHS — interview the refugees and examine their information. They make the final decision as to acceptance into the program, and their decisions are reviewed at multiple levels within the department.

Finally, fingerprints are collected by U.S. government employees and screened against security agencies’ databases. If there are any red flags, the case is delayed or denied altogether. Throughout this process (and it usually takes years), refugee information is checked against new information gathered by the U.S. intelligence community and the case can be refused at any point. By the time a refugee actually enters the United States via the resettlement program, he or she has undergone at least five interviews and has had every detail of his or her biographic data scrutinized by numerous agencies.
Because it takes such a long time, the 10,000 Syrian refugees who would be admitted to the United States via resettlement in FY 2016 are refugees that are already undergoing the vetting process. As of Nov. 16, UNHCR has referred 23,092 Syrian refugees for resettlement to the United States; 7,014 Syrian refugees have been interviewed by DHS officers and are awaiting clearance; and 2,174 refugees have been admitted. Due to the length of time this process takes, most of the Syrian refugees who would come to the United States over the next year through resettlement fled Syria at the beginning of the conflict — before the Islamic State had even gained prominence.

Source: The Process for Interviewing, Vetting, and Resettling Syrian Refugees in America Is Incredibly Long and Thorough | Foreign Policy

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

One more. I can't resist because you are so absent of the facts it makes me cringe every time I read one of your posts. I sincerely hope you take the time to read all of this because it is knowledge that will help you sound less like an uninformed ape.

Great post. Unfortunately, I think it will fall upon deaf ears (or blind eyes in this case).