LISTEN: HIAS Leaders Discuss Future of U.S. Refugee Resettlement
Sep 08, 2017
On Thursday, September 7, HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield joined HIAS’ Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Melanie Nezer and Senior Director for Community Engagement Merrill Zack to discuss President Trump’s looming decision on refugee resettlement in the United States.
By September 30, the president must determine the maximum number of refugees that can be resettled in the U.S. during the coming year.
The public briefing call for HIAS supporters laid out a few different scenarios that could play out in the coming weeks, and how this “determination” will impact refugee resettlement agencies such as HIAS.
“What we’re bracing ourselves for is the equivalent of a third executive order,” said Hetfield, referring to President Trump’s two previous executive orders, which sought to drastically reduce the number of refugees who could find safety here.
Additionally, Nezer discussed the Trump administration’s decision this week to end DACA, saying that it, “points to a larger issue, which is that we need to create an environment, and a country, where our history and our traditions are still respected and where we are open to immigrants and refugees.”
Listen to the full call below.
[[{"fid":"3471","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default"}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]
