The US Bishops Conference (USCCB) released a statement on the day after US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced cuts in the number of refugees it would accept in 2019. Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, announced a decrease in the number of refugees that the US would allow to enter the country in 2019. Only 30,000 will be allowed to enter. Although the ceiling for 2018 is 45,000, the US will most likely actually own admit 22,000 this year.
As reported by Vatican news, His Grace Bishop Joe Vàsquez, Chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration called the announcement “deeply disturbing”. Capping the number of refugees to 30,000 would leave “many human lives in danger”, he said. According to Vàsquez, many people “fleeing persecution, at a time of unprecedented global humanitarian need” will be left unprotected. That, he said, is a contradiction of who the US is as a nation.
His Excellency Bishop Vàsquez concluded his statement asking Congress to “engage in the formal consultation process with the Administration that is required by law”. The criteria he asks the Congress to propose to the US Government in setting a refugee admission level are: “local community response and support of refugees, global refugee protection needs, and our long history of compassionately welcoming refugees”.
