Trump's extreme vetting for refugees? Already here: Column
New restrictions would raise the specter of ideological exclusion.
Stephen Yale-Loehr / Nicholas Logothetis USA Today January 25, 2017
During his campaign, Donald Trump vowed that he would impose “extreme vetting”[1] of refugees. The president is expected to do that soon through an executive order that suspends refugee admissions until tighter security checks are put in place. But extreme vetting already occurs.
For example, Syrian refugees wait an average of 18 monthsto 24 months before being admitted to the United States. The 21-step screening process goes through multiple agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the U.S. State Department, the FBIand the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Applicants undergo two and sometimes three interagency security checks to make sure nothing disqualifies them for admission to America. Refugee applicants also undergo a comprehensive medical examination to ensure that they don’t have a contagious disease.
Refugees continue to be screened after they arrive in the USA. Within a year,they can apply for a green card. Five years later, they can apply to become naturalized U.S. citizens. The federalgovernment conducts background screening procedures at both steps. In fact, the government has a special program called the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program that can delay refugees’ and others’ applications for years based on alleged national security concerns. Several immigrants have had tosue the U.S. immigration agency to get their cases out of this black hole.
The Cato Institutecalculatesthat the chance of being killed in a terrorist attack committed by a refugee is about onein 3.6 billion ayear.By comparison, CATO found, your chance of being murdered by anyone is onein 14,000. The head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September thatnot a single act of actual terrorist violence has been committed by a refugee "who has undergone our screening procedures"since 9/11.
Studies have found that countries benefit economically from refugees because they fill gaps in the labor marketand have a dynamic impact on investment and productivity growth. Moreover, most refugees are young, which helps aging societies, especially those with shrinking local working-age populations. In Utica, N.Y., for example, refugees have helped halt economic decline.
To impose even more extreme vetting would raise the specter of ideological exclusion. We have been down that roadand rejected it. During the Cold War, the U.S.excluded and deported immigrants if they expressed views different from our own. In 1990, Congress wisely amended the immigration law to ban exclusion of aliens if their beliefs, statements, or associations would be lawful in America.Barring certain refugees simply because they belong to a particular religion constitutes ideological exclusion.
It is certainly appropriate to screen refugee applicants carefully. Becausewe already do that, we should bring more refugees to the USA, not fewer.
By definition, refugees have fled persecution. Let us not persecute them again by temporarily banning them or unduly delaying their entry into Americaby imposing additional but unnecessary security background checks. The U.S.should remain a beacon of hope for refugees rather than an unattainable goal because of security concerns, which are already being comprehensively addressed.
A plaque at the Statue of Liberty contains a quote attributed to Ben Franklin: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Let us remember those words as we deal with the largest refugee crisis since World War II.
[1]Vetting is the process of performing a background check on someone before offering them employment, conferring an award, etc. A prospective person or project may be vetted before making a hiring decision. In addition, in intelligence gathering, assets are vetted to determine their usefulness.[1]
Etymology -- To vet was originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a horse be checked for health and soundness by a veterinarian before being allowed to race. Thus, it has taken the general meaning "to check".[2]