In the face of "unprecedented number of refugees in need of resettlement," President Obama has authorized a whopping $70 million to resettle the immigrants in the United States.
This special fund set aside by the Congress for migration crisis has been tapped to cover this emergency as it is the "worst refugee crisis that the world has seen since the Second World War", as stated by Secretary of State John Kerry, according to KGW. The number of refugees to be allowed inside the country has already been raised to 1,00,000 in 2017 from 70,000 in 2015.
By stating that this fund can be used to cover migration crisis anywhere in the world, and not only in the USA, Obama has managed to draw praise from the likes of Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Luis V. Gutiérrez - the congressional Democrats - as evident from their statement which released recently.
Obama's sentiments regarding this global fund were reflected by Kerry at a recent speech in National Defense University. "The refugee crisis is not just a Syrian problem, nor a Middle Eastern problem, or a European or an African problem is a global challenge of historic proportions and dimensions, and it tests our values, our self-confidence, and our very humanity," were his exact words, reports USA Today.
The number of Syrians fleeing to different parts of the world sum up to almost 4 million, and Europe had to post more security checks at the borders to cope up with the hundreds of thousands of Middle Eastern and African immigrants. Given this current crisis situation, Kerry promised to look for ways to raise the number beyond the 1,00,000 cap, at the same time taking necessary steps to filter out terrorist infiltration. The refugee emergency plan also includes rescuing those fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and help them lead a life of respect and equality.
However, this effort, quite expectedly met with some criticisms as well, the most common one being the possibility of ISIS infiltration. The Voice of America stated that one such comment came from Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. To this, the Secretary came back with how the country has still gone ahead with its plans "against a backdrop of some pretty nasty politics" that was designed to "scare" Americans.
He assures that proper controls are in place by way of several processing centers in various Latin American countries that are meant to screen the fleeing families. The United Nations agency has been appointed to make sure the immigrants pass all eligibility criteria for entering the country under the 'refugee' status.
More updates on Obama's global fund for refugee crises are expected following his U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York in September. The President is likely to put all concerns to rest and reveal more details about the plan.
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