As part of a larger travel ban (with three major incarnations), the Trump administration has been blocking refugees from entering the United States over terrorism concerns — despite the fact that the only refugees to kill U.S. citizens were Cubans in the 1970s. The administration will start admitting refugees again (the order blocking them expires Tuesday) but with new, tougher vetting processes for refugees from certain countries.
According the Wall Street Journal, applicants will have to provide more biographical information, like family names and employment history. The administration will also comb through social media accounts in order to verify information in applications, a process previously abandoned by the Obama administration because it was too labor-intensive.
However, the rules offer other challenges:
The vetting process can be particularly challenging because applicants have been forced to flee their home countries and often don’t have documents that are helpful in confirming identity and other details typically used in screening. In addition, their home countries are often unwilling or unable to cooperate.
Advocates for refugees have long pointed to the lengthy process that applicants undergo already and say that the existing vetting process is more than adequate.
On top of slowing the process for refugees down, the Trump administration already announced it was limiting the number of refugees it would admit to 45,000 — less than half the number President Obama had originally set.
(Via Wall Street Journal)