OPINION:
The U.S. is about to start accepting a surge of Syrian refugees — all vetted in less time than originally anticipated by the federal government.
Because of a spike in Middle Eastern refugees needing placement, the Obama administration has decided to rush their vetting process to three months, from the original 18-24 months.
“While the resettlement process usually takes 18 to 24 months, the surge operation will reduce the time to three months,” the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Since October, 1,000 Syrian refugees have moved to the U.S. from Jordan. Mr. Obama said it was his goal to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by Sept. 30, but the process has been slow. A resettlement center opened in Amman in February to help meet that goal, and about 600 people are interviewed every day at the center, the AP said.
The first Syrian family to be resettled in the U.S. under a sped-up “surge operation” for refugees left Jordan Wednesday.
The Refugee Resettlement Watch, which monitors the resettlement efforts, has reported 99 percent of those relocated to the U.S. are Sunni Muslims, and they expect that trend to continue under the surge operation.
Gina Kassem, the regional refugee coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, told AP the target of 10,000 refugees “is a floor and not a ceiling, and it is possible to increase the number.”
More refugees with less screening time — what could possibly go wrong?
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