Raising Refugee Limit for U.S. Won't Bring Quick Resettlement
- Only 'vulnerable' refugees are considered for U.S. admission
- Applying for resettlement in the U.S. can take two years
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Amid a swelling humanitarian crisis sparked by the bloody civil war in Syria, the Obama administration plans to raise the number refugees it accepts for resettlement in the U.S. to 85,000 in the next fiscal year and 100,000 in 2017.
That’s up from the 70,000 refugees now allowed in. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the change Sunday in Berlin. The higher limit will provide room to take many as 10,000 refugees from Syria in the next year, a goal that the administration previously announced and one that will be neither fast nor simple to meet.