Dear Friends, The Trump Administration is reportedly seeking to cut the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. to a record low of 7,500 for the new fiscal year (the Biden Administration set the goal at 125,000 refugees for each of the last four fiscal years). Even worse, the bulk of these slots would be reserved for white Afrikaners from South Africa, while hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled war, torture and famine have waited, sometimes for years, in refugee camps outside their home country in the hopes of being legally resettled to the U.S. A September 30 joint statement by Judiciary Committee members Representatives Raskin and Jayapal and Senators Durbin and Padilla called on the Administration to follow federal law that requires them to consult with Congress on their refugee admissions plans by October 1 (which the Administration has not done). In their statement, the Congressmembers note that: “Nearly 130,000 people facing persecution abroad who have already passed the rigorous vetting requirements of our refugee program have been abandoned by this Administration, left to languish in refugee camps around the world after being given the promise of safety and a new life in America.” TAKE ACTION: Write to your Members of Congress and ask them to insist that the Trump Administration meet with Congress and restore the purpose of the U.S. refugee admissions program to one that provides safety and shelter for the world’s most vulnerable people. Many of those being left behind by this Administration are victims of torture or the threat of torture and death. Those most likely to be admitted under the Administration’s refugee plan are not. They are mostly white people that this Administration has defined as “victims of unjust racial discrimination,” a claim rebuffed by the government of South Africa. Further, this focus on white South Africans who are not a part of UN refugee efforts can only be viewed as one more example of this Administration’s policies that are rooted in racism and white supremacy. Please contact your Members of Congress and show your support for the most at-risk refugees around the world. Thank you for standing with refugees! In community,
The NRCAT Team | 
