According to the United Nations, there is currently an unprecedented number of displaced people in the world; almost 34,000 people a day flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution, per the UN’s 2015 statistics. Out of the estimated 21.3 million refugees in the world, only a small portion resettle in the United States.
Since the federal refugee program was created in 1980, 3 million refugees have entered the U.S., with 85,000 entering between October 2015 and September 2016.The Refugee Act of 1980 established a resettlement program and federal standards for screening and admitting refugees. Just how does that vetting work?
For most refugees trying to enter the United States, the process takes between 18 and 24 months and involves referrals from the United Nations, security checks and interviews with several national security agencies in the U.S., fingerprinting, and a health screening. According to the State Department, “No traveler to the United States is subject to more rigorous security screening than the refugees the U.S. Government considers for admission.”
First, applicants have to register as refugees with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which works in 128 countries and runs refugee camps in places like Turkey, Jordan, Thailand and Tanzania. Being a refugee means you’ve fled your home country and are afraid to return based on fear of persecution related to your race, religion, nationality, social group (like if you’re LGBT), or political views. Ideally, you have documents that confirm your story, like letters or written testimony from friends or relatives who know your situation. Sometimes an NGO or the U.S. consulate can refer you to the UNHCR, but that’s rare.
UNHCR vets refugees for eligibility with an eye toward how vulnerable their situation is—like if they’re an orphan, a victim of torture, or if they have serious medical needs [PDF]. They also are looking to weed out people who aren’t eligible as refugees, such as war criminals. Only around 1 percent of the refugee population around the world is deemed a “strong candidate” for resettlement in another country like the…
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