Refugee Resettlement Roundup for FY 2020

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Refugee Resettlement Roundup for FY 2020
By Nayla Rush on October 6, 2020

The new fiscal year began on Thursday, October 1, so it's time to take a look at last fiscal year's refugee resettlement admissions.

In FY 2020 (October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020), a total of 11,814 refugees were resettled in the United States, under a refugee ceiling of 18,000. These admissions (close to 66 percent of the announced target) are to be viewed under a unique spotlight: the Covid-19 pandemic that affected most of FY 2020. Strict measures (such as travel restrictions, closing of borders, etc.) were undertaken as early as January 2020 by many countries, including the United States, in an effort to contain this contagious virus that appeared in China around December 2019.

Refugee admissions into the United States were "officially" suspended on March 19, 2020, following UN agencies' announcement of the temporary suspension of the refugee resettlement program in view of the Covid-19 global health crisis. In reality, however, refugees were still being admitted into the United States despite the virus outbreak, albeit in smaller numbers. Even Australia's unwanted refugees were still being resettled here despite the pandemic. The refugee resettlement program "suspension" ended on June 18, when the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the world body's refugee agency) announced "the resumption of resettlement departures for refugees".

FY 2020 refugee admissions can be divided into three parts: Before the official suspension of the refugee resettlement program (October 1, 2019 to March 18, 2020); during that suspension (March 19, 2020, to June 17, 2020); and, finally, after the suspension was lifted (June 18, 2020, through September 30, 2020):

https://cis.org/Rush/Refugee-Resettlement-Roundup-FY-2020

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    Home Report A Look at the FY 2021 Report to Congress on Refugees

A Look at the FY 2021 Report to Congress on Refugees
Good information, but likely to change under a Biden administration
By Nayla Rush on December 9, 2020

 
Nayla Rush is a senior researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.

The president's "Report to Congress on Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021", released this October, provides us with a snapshot of the Trump administration's refugee and asylum policy in FY 2020 and its projections for FY 2021 (those will likely be short-lived with the new Biden administration).1 I highlight a number of important points below, followed by more detail and longer excerpts on key matters. All quotes are from the report's text; emphases are mine.

    In FY 2020, the United States admitted over 11,000 refugees for resettlement (under a ceiling of 18,000) and granted asylum to approximately 31,000 individuals.

    Recent years have seen an increase in asylum claims by migrants encountered along or near the U.S. southern border with Mexico. New cases add to the lengthy backlog of pending claims and undermine the integrity of the asylum system. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United States led the world in the number of new asylum applications received in calendar years 2017, 2018, and 2019.

 https://cis.org/Report/Look-FY-2021-Report-Congress-Refugees