Credit: : Refugee Resettlement Watch - Ann Corcoran

You have until 5 p.m. on Thursday to send testimony to the US State Department about what you think the "size and scope" of the US Refugee Admissions Program should be in FY2017.

Size and scope' means how many should we admit (Obama has already said he wants 100,000) and where should they come from.  See here.

Simon Henshaw is the right hand man of Anne Richard. Tell him you want transparency! All testimony should be made public!

Simon Henshaw,

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Department of State.

My apologies......

I realized from some 'testimony' I have received that I was not clear in this post and some of you thought I would submit your testimony to the State Department.  I can't do that.  I was only offering to re-produce (post) your testimony on these pages because we know the State Department has in the past refused to make any of it public.

They use the privacy excuse, but what I really want to see is what the federal resettlement contractors (the big nine) are telling the State Dept., and those should be made public because they are essentially government agencies operating mostly on taxpayer dollars.

 Click here to read what I have posted so far.

ACTION ITEM 1

Persons wishing to submit written comments on the appropriate size and scope of the FY 2016 U.S. Refugee Admissions Program should submit them by 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, 2015 via email to PRM-Comments@state.gov or fax (202) 453-9393.Show citation box

If you have questions about submitting written comments, please contact Delicia Spruell, PRM/Admissions Program Officer atspruellda@state.gov.

AND THEN:

Send your testimony to me at refugeewatcher@gmail.com (with the word 'testimony' in the subject line). (I am still plowing through the testimonies I have received.)

However, please be polite, after reviewing carefully some I have gotten, I apologize but I can't publish a few (no threats please!).

ACTION ITEM 2

And, last but not least, send your testimony to all of your elected officials, especially your two US Senators and your Congressman! Tell them you want all testimony made public.  Heck, they write the laws, not the State Department! 

Supportive information for better understanding

Federal Register Notice:

The United States actively supports efforts to provide protection, assistance, and durable solutions for refugees. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is a critical component of the United States’ overall refugee protection efforts around the globe. In Fiscal Year 2016, the President established the ceiling for refugee admissions into the United States at 85,000 refugees.

As we begin to prepare the FY 2017 U.S. Refugee Admission Program, we welcome the public’s input. Information about the Program can be found at http://www.state.gov/g/prm/.

"Borders, Language, Culture" - Michael Savage