by Catharine Smith
Breitbart reports, “nearly 100 mayors across the United States are begging President Trump to import as many refugees to the country as possible in order to “bring cultural vibrancy and diversity” to American communities.”
The mayors want Trump to take away individual communities’ ability to decide if they want refugees settled in their cities.
In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 88 mayors — from Denver, Colorado to Columbia, South Carolina, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York — urged Trump to end his September 26 executive order that gives American communities more veto power over whether they want refugees resettled in their communities. The executive order revamps the U.S. resettlement system and could drastically reduce, if not entirely stop, the resettlement of refugees in cities. The Administration announced it is slashing the number of refugees who may enter the country in 2020 to 18,000–the lowest since the program began in 1980 and a reduction of nearly 80% from just a few years ago.
The mayors said that more refugees are needed to bring about “cultural vibrancy and diversity” to their often small towns, though they admit refugees are an initial tax burden on their taxpayers. Refugees contribute meaningfully to our economy as earners and taxpayers. While they receive initial assistance upon arriving in the United States, they see significant income increases in subsequent years, according to the letter.
The mayors aren’t the only ones who want to increase the number of refugees brought to the United States, the national security establishment, Republican and Democrat lawmakers, as well as the Koch brothers’ network of GOP donors demand Trump increase refugee resettlement to the country.
Since 2008, the U.S. has permanently resettled more than 1.7 million foreign nationals and refugees through a variety of humanitarian programs — a foreign population larger than the size of Philadelphia, which has 1.5 million residents.
These 1.7 million foreign nationals and refugees do not include the roughly 445,000 foreign nationals who have been allowed to remain in the U.S. through the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.
Refugee resettlement costs American taxpayers nearly $9 billion every five years. An estimated 16 percent of all refugees will need housing assistance paid for by taxpayers. Meanwhile, refugee contractors — organizations that help resettle refugees — are rewarded with government funds based on the number of refugees they resettle every year.
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Catherine Smith is a newcomer to Washington D.C. She met, and married an American journalist and moved to D.C from the U.K. She graduated with a B.A in Graphic, Media and Communications and worked in design and retail in the U.K.
Photo “Refugee Supporters” by Fibonacci Blue. CC BY 2.0.
