10,000th Syrian refugee arrives in U.S.

President Barack Obama on Monday reached his goal of ushering into the United States the 10,000th Syrian refugee this fiscal year — a development that comes one month ahead of schedule and just as immigration has again become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail.
U.S. refugee resettlement efforts also are proceeding at a brisk pace. That means the Obama administration will substantially surpass the president’s 10,000 Syrians goal by the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1.

U.S. ambassador to Jordan, Alice Wells, addresses three Syrian families ahead of their departure to the United States on Sunday. | AP Photo

A year ago, President Obama set the goal of welcoming at least 10,000 of the most vulnerable refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria to the United States," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. "Today, by committing additional resources to our refugee admissions process and maintaining our rigorous screening process and commitment to the security of the American people, we have reached that goal."
Administration officials declined to identify who the 10,000th refugee is or where the person landed, citing privacy issues. (Considering there are multiple Syrian families landing on Monday, the designation could go to any number of people.)
The U.S. refugee program used to have strong bipartisan support, and refugees undergo months, even years, of background checks before being allowed to reach American soil. But in the wake of terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States blamed on people with foreign roots, Republicans have largely turned against the idea of allowing in refugees fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria.
There are at least 4.8 million Syrian refugees, according to the United Nations. Last fall, as a wave of Syrian migrants threatened to overwhelm Europe, the Obama administration decided to raise the number of refugees it accepts from around the world from 70,000 to 85,000 this fiscal year. Obama requested that at least 10,000 Syrians be included in that overall figure.
After a slow start, the administration beefed up resources devoted to the resettlement process to speed up the relocation process. The push went forward despite more than half of the nation’s governors, nearly all Republicans, saying they didn’t want any Syrians resettled in their states, and as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused the administration of allowing in potential terrorists.
Trump is due to give a speech designed to clarify his often confusing policies on immigration — which will likely include a section on refugees — later this week.
Next month, Obama is scheduled to host a summit on refugees on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, and he is expected to call on other countries to double their intake of refugees. The administration has said it will accept 100,000 refugees from around the world in the coming fiscal year, but it’s not clear how many Syrians that will include.
Ahead of the summit, activists are urging Obama to step up America's commitment to refugees — nearly 140 advocacy, aid and other groups released a letter Monday making the case. Advocates want Obama to admit at least 200,000 refugees from around the world through the traditional resettlement program as well as other routes, such as work or student visas. It's a tough request for Obama to fulfill, however, because Congress controls the funding for the refugee program.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday that, as far as Syrians, “the overall expectation is that it will be around 10,000" for this coming fiscal year. But he stressed that discussions were ongoing, noting that Kerry will meet with members of Congress before setting any final targets.
“The president certainly would like to see the United States continue to ramp up our commitment,” Earnest said. But Obama also is “realistic about how quickly that can happen. ... Hopefully we’ll have more detailed information to provide on this before the end of next week.”