Andorra Bruno
Specialist in Immigration Policy
A refugee is a person fleeing his or her country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of
Specialist in Immigration Policy
A refugee is a person fleeing his or her country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of
persecution on
account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or
political opinion. Typically, the annual number
of
refugees that can be admitted into
the United States,
known as the refugee ceiling,
and the allocation of these numbers
by region are set by the
President after consultation with
Congress at the start of each
fiscal
year. For
FY2013, the worldwide refugee ceiling is 70,000, with 67,000 admissions numbers allocated among the
regions
of
the world and 3,000
numbers comprising an unallocated
reserve. An
unallocated reserve
is to be used if, and where, a need
develops for refugee slots in
excess of the allocated
numbers. The FY2013
regional allocations are, as follows: Africa
(12,000), East Asia (17,000), Europe and Central Asia (2,000),
Latin America/Caribbean
(5,000), and Near East/South Asia (31,000).
Overseas
processing of refugees is conducted through a system of
three priorities for admission.
Priority
1 comprises cases involving persons facing compelling security concerns. Priority 2 comprises cases involving persons
from
specific groups of special
humanitarian concern to the
United States (e.g.,
Iranian religious minorities). Priority
3 comprises family reunification cases involving close relatives
of
persons admitted as refugees
or
granted asylum.
Special legislative provisions
facilitate
relief for
certain
refugee
groups. The “Lautenberg
Amendment,” which was first enacted in 1989,
allows certain former Soviet and
Indochinese nationals to
qualify for refugee
status
based on their
membership
in a protected category with
a credible fear of persecution.
In 2004, Congress amended the Lautenberg Amendment
to add the “Specter Amendment,” which
requires the designation of categories of Iranian religious minorities
whose cases are to be adjudicated under the Lautenberg Amendment’s reduced evidentiary standard. Subsequent laws extended the
Lautenberg Amendment,
as amended
by the Specter Amendment. Most recently,
the Consolidated and Further
Continuing Appropriations Act,
2013 (P.L. 113-6)
extends the Lautenberg Amendment through
September 30,
2013.
The Department
of
Health and Human Services’ Office
of
Refugee Resettlement (HHS/ORR) administers an initial transitional
assistance program for
temporarily dependent refugees
and Cuban/Haitian entrants. The final
FY2013 appropriation
for refugee and entrant
assistance in P.L. 113-6 is $1.016 billion; after adjustments for
the
rescission
and the sequestration, FY2013 funding totals $999.4
million.
Date of Report: August 8, 2013
Number of Pages: 15
Order Number: RL31269
Price: $29.95
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