For Immediate Release        
Contact: Dan Gordon, 617-651-0841 
Oct. 28, 2021

Recordings Posted: Grandi, Jaddou Speak during Virtual Immigration Convening
All Leading the Way 2021 sessions are available here

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees critiqued the U.S.’s use of Title 42 at the border. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur M. Jaddou talked about the need to bolster her agency.

These were among the provocative conversations during the National Immigration Forum’s annual Leading the Way convening, which aired virtually earlier this week. More than 1300 moderates and conservatives registered for the event. Recordings of all Leading the Way sessions are now available.

The following are quotes from select Leading the Way conversations:

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:                         
"You can both protect populations from the [corona]virus and protect asylum seekers from the risks they’re fleeing from, without obliging them to go back to conflict, to violence and so forth. We told the United States we understand why Title 42 was established, but the time has come to lift that restriction and to adopt measures, that other countries have also adopted, to manage asylum requests without deporting people indiscriminately because of health reasons."

Ur M. Jaddou, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:                               
"We want a more inclusive, more welcoming United States, and this is really part of our big picture at USCIS. ... In order to do this, though, you need to fix the fiscal and operational health of the agency."

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R), 16th District of Illinois, U.S. House of Representatives:
"It only benefits the United States to have a process in place for [Afghan evacuees] to be full citizens of the United States. … Those that have fought with the United States, or family of those that have, are exactly the kind of people we need to empower."

Rep. Jason Crow (D), 6th District of Colorado, U.S. House of Representatives:                      
"We are better and we are stronger and we are economically more vibrant as a community because of the contributions of [Afghan] refugees. I’m going to continue to tell that story as we resettle our Afghan friends and partners — that this is going to be a positive for our country."

Elizabeth Neumann, Chief Strategy Officer, Moonshot; member of the Council on National Security and Immigration:
"There’s a small core there that truly believes in the great replacement theory and is trying to establish the whiteness of America. It’s very disgusting, it’s evil, and it needs to be exposed in order for us to get back to having rational policy debates, which are legitimate and deserve to be held."

Tom Linebarger, CEO of Cummins Inc.:
 "We need talent with the right values, the right energy levels, the ability to work in teams to solve complicated problems — wherever they are. We need to apply that talent. The U.S. wins when we attract the best talent in the world to work for U.S. companies."

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