On refugee crisis, Pierce County must speak loudly against ‘walls of indifference’
President Trump isn’t just cracking down on illegal immigration, he’s cracking down on all immigration. As per his 2016 campaign promise, Trump is building a wall, an invisible one that reduces U.S. refugee admission by 40 percent in 2020.
At least Washington state leaders have a more welcoming perspective on the refugee crisis, which should help them sleep a little better at night.
Trump’s “No Vacancy” sign comes at a time when the global refugee population is at its highest level since World War ll. Over 26 million people are in need of security and compassion, but the Trump Administration has capped the 2020 U.S. refugee ceiling at 18,000.
To put it in perspective, President Obama capped the ceiling at 110,000 in 2017.
Trump’s historically low number speaks directly to our nation’s identity. Sure, we’ll take the world’s huddled masses longing to breathe free, but only a small percentage. And those from what the president calls “sh*thole countries” need not apply.
And for the first time in U.S. history, states and cities can refuse refugees. An executive order gave governments until late December to write letters of consent if they wanted to keep participating in resettlement efforts.
Gov. Jay Inslee made it clear Washington will not turn its back on those fleeing violence and unrest. Last year the Evergreen state accepted the second-highest number of refugees in the U.S., resettling 1,900 individuals.
In a letter sent to the State Department in November, Inslee wrote, “I remain troubled by this administration’s deep cuts to refugee resettlement and disappointed that my call for a considerably higher number of refugees went unanswered.”
Inslee’s concerns were echoed in King County. Officials there told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that refugees are important to local “economic and social development.”
Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier was more succinct in his response. “I consent to resettlement of refugees in Pierce County under the Department of State’s Reception and Replacement Program,” he wrote in a two-sentence form letter.
It was hardly a Churchill moment, but at least it keeps the door open for local refugee relief.
Still, if Pierce County wants to be a model for protecting the world’s most vulnerable, it must speak louder, as Tacoma did with the adoption of a “welcoming city” resolution in 2015 and the formation of a Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs in 2017.
In his annual Christmas Day message, Pope Francis was right to warn the world against “walls of indifference.” The pontiff said refugees and migrants “are often looked down upon and considered the source of all society’s ills.” And that, he said, “is an alarm bell.”
Certainly there are strong economic arguments to be made for refugee resettlement.
A labor shortage jeopardizes economic expansion in almost every state. According to Ali Noorani of the National Immigration Forum, the U.S. private sector this year will face a shortage of 7.5 million workers.
A common fear is that a large influx of refugees would burden the welfare system and economy. The opposite has proven true. In 2015, refugees contributed $21 billion in taxes across the country.
In spite of their strong cultural and economic contributions, Trump has consistently employed scare tactics to justify anti-immigration policies, suggesting that refugees could be violent jihadi members or part of the notorious MS-13 gang, here to rape and gun folks down.
Andrew Hays, the immigration legal services manager for World Relief Seattle, refutes this characterization. “The U.S. resettlement program has welcomed more than 3 million refugees since its beginnings in 1980, and not one has killed anyone in a terrorist attack in the U.S.,” Hays told a member of our Editorial Board.
We should be ever mindful of the many ways refugees have enriched our communities. It’s why state and local leaders should keep their support loud and consistent.
Tell the president America needs to do more for refugees, not less.