Who Should Determine Refugee Policy

A refugee is a person who was forced to leave their country. Whether it be from warfare or natural disaster, their homes are no longer safe to live in, so they need to relocate elsewhere. Once someone sets foot on the journey of becoming a refugee, they become vulnerable and dependent with no sense of what the future will bring. In an attempt to accommodate them, first world countries with the resources necessary to assist these refugees, are struggling to determine whether or not they should step-in and help. Some argue that taking them in could come with excessive consequences, while others believe they could be assets. Although there may be a few consequences, they are outweighed by the benefits and undeniable severity of the situation.

Intro: Refugees face a far worse life than most people can imagine, and there is no easy way out for them. They first must get out of whatever dangerous place they are in, then travel long distances with almost no resources, and even if they do make it safely to the USA there is a chance they will be sent back or even put in jail. The refugee experience is defined by risks and belonging.

The most commonly accepted definition of a ‘refugee’ is set out in the United Nations 1951

The United Nations approach on the treatment of refugees is as follows. the Convention relating to the status of Refugees 1967 Protocol defines who a refugee is and explains what Rights countries should afford to refugees. A refugee is a person who is outside of their own country and is unable or unwilling to return due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of their; race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political

To further assist Vietnamese refugees, Congress passed an act in 1980 called the Refugee Act. It reduced restrictions on entry to the US and provided an official definition of a refugee. It also set the number of refugee admissions at 50,000 per year and allowed a refugee that stayed in the US for 1 year to become a permanent resident. Finally, after four years, the Act allowed refugees to become a United States citizen. On a side note, addition laws were passed that allowed children of American servicemen to enter the United States.

The dilemma regarding the American refugee policy and America’s stance on refugees at this point in time is a challenging topic for many to discuss. Not only is this controversy affecting Americans, it is also hurting refugees in desperate need of our help. America needs to start handling the emerging refugee crisis by first working to remove the stereotype associated with refugees, then the U.S. needs to assess which refugee countries should (if any) actually be banned, and after accomplishing those-- America needs to work to help the countries in need by letting refugees in, and working to help the refugees live happily in their country of origin.

Has United States or Canada been more effective with implementing and abiding by refugee rules and laws? Before discussing and comparing which of these countries had been more successful, the historical context of refugees needs to be explored. Although refugees have existed throughout the course of history, the definitions of what a refuge is had shifted and evolved over time. The League of Nations in the 1920s defined refugees “by categories, specifically in relation to their country of origin.” Up until 1950s, the League of Nations, which later became the United Nations, “established and dismantled several international institutions devoted to refugees in Europe.” After World War II, creating and facilitating solutions for refugees were of high importance internationally. This is evident in the first session of United Nations General Assembly in 1946 when it adopted the principle that no refugee who had “expressed valid objections to returning to their countries [sic] of origin ... shall be compelled to return.”

In many cases individuals are label as refugees after being permitted to stay in the United States after applying for admission. Most of these immigrants have fled due of the fear of persecution due to their race, social clique, political officially, religion, or national origin. The admission of refugees turns on numerous factors, such as the degree of risk they face, membership in a group that is of special concern to the United States (designated yearly by the President of the United States and Congress), and whether or not they have family members in the United States. (American Immigration Council, 2016) After the events of September 11,2001, the number of approved admissions fell due to the increase in the complexity of security checks. The Department of Homeland Security determined the total amount of refugees’ admission permitted into the United States for 2016 was approximately 85,000. For those that individuals that reach the United Stated before applying for refugee; there is option for them to seek out asylum within the country. The individual must declare that they are seeking asylum at any port of entry or within one year after arriving in the United States. Currently, the immigration policies don’t limit the number of individuals who are granted

The objective of The Refugee Act of 1980 was to create The Federal Refugee Resettlement Program to assist with the effective resettlement of people that needed to be exiled from their native country. Furthermore, this act was created to assist the refugees in accomplishing an economic self- sufficiency as soon as possible after their arrival to the United States. In addition, this act allows the president to assist and accept those foreign nationals who are under persecution due to their race, nationality, religion, and membership in a particular social group and political opinion into the United States. In addition, this act was the first major change in the United States that favored refugees from other countries. However, The Refugee Act of 1980 was a complete law concerning refugee resettlement and admissions to the United States (Alnord, 1983).

This law had identified a refugee as someone, who, “Is Located outside of the United States; Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States; Demonstrates that they were persecuted of fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group; Is not firmly resettled in another country; Is admissible to the United States.” This law has also been able to raise the number of refugees the United States can take in annually, from 17,400 to 50,000. This is a criteria which matches the circumstances that Syrian refugees are currently put in. "When America wants to, it has opened its doors to tens of thousands of refugees…and absorbed them effortlessly," Julia Ioffe, who arrived to the United States as a child fleeing the brutality of the Soviet Union, argued in Foreign Policy in September 2015. "In fact, you are likely the descendant of one of them yourself: people fleeing a potato famine or political unrest in 19th-century Europe, pogroms in the Russian empire, war in Asia, or genocide in Africa. In fact, you, like me, are the descendant of something far less grave than what Syrians are fleeing today."

A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, or persecution. Recently there are many debates going on, whether the United States should allow Syrian refugees to come into America or not. At the same time, there is a civil war in Syria between the government led by Bashar al-Assad and the rebels. As a result, there are thousands of Syrian refugees, without homes because of the civil war, attempting to flee the country and avoid both the conflict and ISIS. There are many States in America that don’t want to allow Syrian refugees to come into the America, because according to them they think that Syrian refugees can cause a potential security threat to them or maybe members of ISIS can enter into the

The decision on whether to deny or accept the entry of refugees into America has been a controversial issue in today’s current events. Many American citizens have resolved to heated conflicts when expressing their differing opinions on whether the refugee policy should be revised or not. Refugees should be welcomed into America with open arms, but there must be a limit on the number of these refugees seeking asylum that can enter the country in order to save the economy.

This paper will examine the immigration and refugee policies applied to Cubans and Salvadorans from the late-20th century, marking the initial surge of migrants from this region to the United States. The main reason that led to differences between Salvadoran and Cuban granted refugee status in the U.S. was the fact that Salvadorans were fleeing violence of regimes that the U.S. supported while Cubans were fleeing the U. S’s primary enemy, communism. This in turn led to different integration processes and acceptance into the state.

The creation of the United States of America was caused almost solely by refugees seeking a life away from persecution. Nowadays, however, it seems that the topic of refugees has entered a field of uncertainty and doubt. These people, who seek to escape from war-torn zones or for the sake of asylum, are being turned away due to issues that include their religion, race, or custom. Refugees are no longer looked at as people in need but rather people to question, whether for the sake of national safety or prejudice toward one subgroup of people. Countries around the world, including the United States, need to come up with plans to not only help ease the transition of relocation but to help families reunite in such a devastating time.

Currently there is a refugee crisis . People from different places are fleeing their countries to survive and escape the violence where they live. The best solution for this crisis would be for the U.S. to accept refugees (way more than they already do) and help them out. There are many reasons why this is the best solution. One of the reasons being that we shouldn't commit the same mistakes that we have made in the past. Besides most people in the U.S already want to help. Refugees aren't even a problem problem in the U.S.