The Trump administration is ending its refugee ban today and opening the nation’s doors to people fleeing violence from every country in the world.
That includes Syria, a country that President Donald Trump targeted in his first travel ban.
Applicants will undergo more aggressive vetting than before, including social media screening, the Wall Street Journal reports. Government reviewers will also collect more biographical data.
The Trump administration is ending its refugee ban today and opening the nation’s doors to people fleeing violence from every country in the world. That includes Syria, a country that President Donald Trump targeted in his first travel ban
Trump blocked Syrian refugees from coming to the U.S. in the early days of his administration.
After that order was challenged in court on the grounds that the restrictions were intended to be a Muslim ban, Trump ordered a 120-day suspension on all refugee resettlement in the U.S. so his administration could conduct a thorough review of the process.
The review period was set to end on Oct. 24. The administration declined to renew it.
U.S. officials told reporters last month that the Department of Homeland Security will apply extreme vetting measures to residents of 11 countries wishing to travel to the United States after their home countries could not or would not meet new vetting requirements.
Reuters said in a report last week that the U.S. might also increase scrutiny on women and children claiming refugee status.
The checks could slow refugee admissions, even though the ban has been lifted.
Refugees are already vetted using biographic information and biometric data at varying levels of intensity.
Multiple sources told Reuters that the government is looking to raise the bar for women and children and bring it closer to the rules the government is applying to men.
U.S. officials across administrations have required adult, males to pass more intense examinations that identify extremist ties and determine the applicants’ propensity to become radicalized.
Trump warned repeatedly as he was running for president that Syrian men entering the United States as refugees are a ‘great Trojan horse.’
‘We have no idea who these people are, where they come from,’ Trump said, ignoring the 18 to 24 months of research the State Department does on each Syrian refugee applicant.
Trump ordered a 120-day suspension on all refugee resettlement in the U.S. so his administration could conduct a thorough review of the process earlier this year. The review period was set to end on Oct. 24. The administration declined to renew it
He said the U.S. should test prospective refugees to affirm that they ‘share our values and love our people.’
The U.S. accepted 18,007 Syrian refugees between 2011, when the country’s civil war started, and the end of 2016.
President Barack Obama increased refugee admissions in his second term, finishing out his time in office with a proposed cap of 85,000 in 2016.
He wanted to raise the number of admission even further to 110,000 in 2017.
Trump has said he wanted a 50,000 refugee quota, citing national security concerns. It crossed that threshold for the fiscal year that ended in September last July.
The administration said it would lower rate even more this fiscal year to 45,000.