As the Trump administration considers dissolving the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) of the Department of State and transferring some of its responsibilities to the Department of Homeland Security, FCNL and more than thirty other organizations have signed a letter urging representatives to block this executive action.
A leaked White House memo indicates that the Trump administration is considering dissolving PRM and either transferring or eliminating key refugee assistance programs. In response to this ill-advised proposal, Representative David Price introduced an amendment to a state and foreign operations spending bill to be marked up on July 19th that would prohibit the use of funds to transfer the activities of PRM to other departments. Thirty-five organizations, including FCNL, signed a letter in support of this amendment.
“The elimination of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, however it is done, would only undermine our nation’s ability to assist refugees,” said FCNL Lobbyist for Human Rights and Civil Liberties Yasmine Taeb. “Congress must step in and assert that now, in the midst of the worst refugee crisis in modern history, is not the time to turn our backs on those in need.”
July 18, 2017
Dear Representative:
The undersigned 36 non-governmental organizations urge you to support the amendment to authorize the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), Department of State (“PRM”). In June a leaked memo revealed that the administration is considering dissolving or devolving PRM into another Department or office. One option under consideration would shift the refugee resettlement functions of PRM from the State Department (“DOS”) to the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). The proposed shift would dramatically reframe U.S. refugee policy as a national security threat rather than a humanitarian mandate.
As the lead agency responsible for managing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (“USRAP”), PRM directs U.S. admission policies and coordinates the overseas processing of refugees. PRM handles the transportation and initial reception and integration of refugees. Finally, PRM administers U.S. funding to the United Nations Refugee Agency and other overseas programs that assist refugees. PRM derives its mandate from longstanding legislation including the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980 (“Refugee Act”). The Refugee Act standardized the resettlement services for all refugees admitted to the U.S., established an annual consultation requirement between Congress and the President, and funded a new Office of U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs and an Office of Refugee Resettlement. The Refugee Act, which amended the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1954, provides the legal basis for today’s USRAP. Earlier this week 58 former diplomats and national security advisors called on the Secretary of State to keep the refugee resettlement functions of PRM at DOS instead of moving them to DHS. The signatories are former officials who served in Republican administrations and Democratic administrations:
“We write at a time in which world displacement is at the highest level ever recorded, which underscores the critical importance of U.S. capacity to address this crucial global issue. In this respect, the Administration is very fortunate to have been extremely well-served by [PRM]… PRM… plays, in effective partnership with USAID, a key role in promoting U.S. humanitarian and foreign policy interests, and has been an extraordinarily valuable tool for [DOS] and the Secretary of State—now and over the past decades.”
Transferring the refugee resettlement functions of PRM from DOS to DHS is not a matter of bureaucratic restructuring. There is simply too much at stake when it comes to protecting refugees fleeing violence and ensuring that humanitarian priorities are integrated into U.S. foreign policy.
We urge you to adopt the amendment to authorize PRM.
Sincerely,
African Services Committee
Alianza Americas
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Amnesty International USA
Asian Americans Advancing Justice –Atlanta
Boat People S.O.S.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Refugee & Immigration Ministries
Church World Service
Franciscan Action Network
Freedom Network USA
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, USA-JPIC
Human Rights First
Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Kids in Need of Defense
Latin America Working Group
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees
Muslim Public Affairs Council
NAFSA: Association of International Education
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Peace Action
Save the Children USA
Sisters of the Living World
Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, MO
STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities
Refugee Solidarity Network
RefugePoint
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Congregations MetroEast, Alton-Godfrey Cluster
WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America)
