Be administered in a manner that furthers the values of our society while adhering to international law and respecting the humanitarian purposes that have been expressed by the Congress of the United States, and

Be rebuilt and expanded, commensurate with global needs.

THE NEW REFUGEE PROGRAM

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 100,000,000 people are currently displaced from their homes, driven out by human conflict, natural disasters, or by climate change. Under the Biden Administration, the United States is opening its doors to the world once again. As the richest country in the world, and the world’s strongest democracy, the United States recognizes its obligation to those who are less fortunate, especially those who are suffering from fear and oppression.

With a long-standing tradition as the leader in refugee resettlements, the United States accepts more refugees than any other member of the United Nations and provides a beacon of hope for persecuted people around the world. In accordance with this tradition, the Government of the United States is expanding its Refugee Admissions Program. Along with private partners and concerned citizens across the country, the Government recognizes the many contributions that refugees make to our country and the obligation that we have, in return, to share the generosity of our society with them.

Under Executive Orders by the President of the United States, the Refugee Admissions Program shall:

Be administered in a manner that furthers the values of our society while adhering to international law and respecting the

humanitarian purposes that have been expressed by the Congress of the United States, and

Be rebuilt and expanded, commensurate with global needs.

Delays in administering the Refugee Admissions Program, and other humanitarian programs, are counter to our national interest and shall be minimized.

Security vetting for applicants under the Refugee Admissions Program, and other humanitarian programs, shall be improved in ways that will make the process quicker. Previous orders requiring enhanced vetting capabilities have been revoked. Similarly, previous orders requiring heightened screening and vetting of applications for visas and other immigration benefits have also been revoked.

All individuals applying for immigration benefits under humanitarian programs shall be treated with dignity and respect, without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or any other grounds and they shall be afforded procedural safeguards.

All humanitarian programs administered by the Government shall be administered in a manner that ensures transparency and accountability and reflects the basic principle that reunifying families is in the national interest.

The Government shall enhance access to the Refugee Admissions Program for those people who are more vulnerable to persecution, including women, children, and other individuals who are at risk of persecution related to their gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.

All executive departments and agencies of the Government shall use all of the available authorities for humanitarian protection that they have to assist individuals for whom the Refugee Admissions Program has previously been unavailable.

To restore and expand the Refugee Admissions Program, the Government shall use all of its technological skills and, wherever possible, capitalize on interested communities in the private sector. The Government shall foster private sponsorship of refugees and continue to partner with resettlement agencies for the reception and placement of refugees.

Special Immigrant Visa programs for Iraqi and Afghan nationals shall provide humanitarian protection to individuals who are experiencing an ongoing threat because they provided faithful and valuable service to the United States, including its troops, in those respective countries. The Government shall ensure that these important programs are administered without undue delay and that:

1. Existing procedures and guidelines are sufficient to permit the expedited entry of

qualified applicants, and

2. In situations where their employer is unable or unwilling to provide verification of the

applicant’s “faithful and valuable service”, the applicant may provide alternative forms of

verification, and

3. In situations where the applicant is required to demonstrate the existence of a

qualifying contract with the United State government, those requirements shall be

simplified, and

4. Ensure that applicants are not prejudiced by delays in verifying their petitions.

Special Immigrant Programs shall be prepared for other individuals, not currently covered, but who remain at risk as a result of their faithful and valuable service to the United States Government. Qualifying individuals will have served the Government in conflict areas for at least 1 year or made exceptional contributions in a shorter period of time and have experienced or are experiencing an ongoing threat as a result of their service.

The Government shall recognize as “spouses” for purposes of derivative status of Refugee Admissions Program applicants those individuals who are in committed life partnerships but who are unable to marry or to register their marriage due to restrictions in the law or practices of their country of origin, including individual in same-sex, interfaith, or camp-based marriages.

The Government shall expand mechanisms under which non-governmental organizations with direct access to and knowledge or refugees abroad in camps or other settings could identify and directly refer particularly vulnerable individuals to the Refugees Admissions Program.

The United States is working to facilitate international collaboration to address the global refugee crisis. Although the asylum process is slow and cumbersome, once they are physically present in the United States, refugees may apply for legal status through a number of different means. They may also apply for public benefits and work permits while waiting on a process that can take many years.

The guiding principle of the New Refugee Program is the honor system. The United States expects that those people who want to become citizens of this country will be law abiding in their conduct and truthful in the documentation that they submit to immigration authorities. Nearly 3,000,000 people were approved in a pathway to citizenship during the Amnesty of 1986. According to the head of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), most of them qualified for citizenship on the basis of fraudulent documents. The government did not have the resources to verify the applications that were submitted at that time, nor do they have it now.

The USCIS is funded by application fees, most of which are now being waived by the Biden Administration, meaning that fewer workers must process more applications. The result is longer wait times for processing with fewer documents being verified. In 2022, the number of people seeking asylum was at an all-time high and the task of falsifying documents is easier than ever. The government has no choice but to trust in the integrity of those applying for asylum.