Fulfilling US Commitment to Refugee Resettlement
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Texas A&M Law Review Volume 5 Issue 1 1-12-2018 Fulfilling U.S. Commitment ot Refugee Resettlement: Protecting Refugees, Preserving National Security, & Building the U.S. Economy Through Refugee Admissions Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/lawreview Part of the Civil Law Commons, Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Immigration Law Commons, International Humanitarian Law Commons, International Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legislation Commons, Nonprofit Organizations Law Commons, Other Law Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Public Policy Commons, Social Policy Commons, Social Welfare Commons, Social Welfare Law Commons, Supreme Court of the United States Commons, and the Transnational Law Commons Recommended Citation Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Fulfilling U.S. Commitment ot Refugee Resettlement: Protecting Refugees, Preserving National Security, & Building the U.S. Economy Through Refugee Admissions, 5 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 155 (2018). Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V5.I1.5 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by Texas A&M Law Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Texas A&M Law Review by an authorized editor of Texas A&M Law Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. \\jciprod01\productn\T\TWL\5-1\TWL106.txt unknown Seq: 1 29-DEC-17 8:20 REPORT FULFILLING U.S. COMMITMENT TO REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT: PROTECTING REFUGEES, PRESERVING NATIONAL SECURITY, & BUILDING THE U.S. ECONOMY THROUGH REFUGEE ADMISSIONS A Report of the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Project An Initiative of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program* * The Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation launched and supported the Syr- ian Refugee Resettlement Project (the “Project”), which culminated in the release of this Report in the Summer of 2017. Megan McLean also contributed funding, espe- cially for the activities related to the rollout of the Report. Sabi Ardalan, assistant director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program and assistant clinical professor at Harvard Law School, supervised a fantastic team of students, staff, researchers, and interns who contributed to the writing of this Report. These included Mana Azarmi, Shubhangi Bhadada, Daniel Binette, Madelyn Finucane, Harleen Gambhir, Selma Haveric, Melissa Mikail, Anusha Pamula, Kim Quarantello, Jillian Ventura, Amy Volz, and Salma Waheedi. Deborah Anker, clinical professor at Harvard Law School and director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, managed various parts of the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Project. Sheila O’Neill provided invaluable administra- tive support. Morgan Stoffregen carefully proofread the Report. Gerald L. Neuman, J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School, and Philip L. Torrey, managing attorney of the Harvard Immi- gration and Refugee Clinical Program and senior clinical instructor and lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, provided thoughtful commentary on the final Report. Cara Solomon, communications manager for the Human Rights Program, helped in so many ways: with advising and editing, with design and layout, as well as with con- stant encouragement. The following consultants contributed to the Project and to writing the Report: Amy Nelson, former director of the Refugee Processing Center; Sana Shtasel of the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, a project of the Tides Center that is a coali- tion of faith-based and secular organizations seeking to mobilize global support to alleviate the Syrian humanitarian crisis and advance stability in the region; and Deb Stein, former director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, who served as the lead con- sultant for the Project and Report. Thanks also to Georgette F. Bennett, Ph.D., founder of the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, for her contributions to the launch of the Project and for her detailed review of the final Report. A spring 2016 paper entitled Barriers to Entry: Systemic Injustice in the U.S. Treat- ment of Syrian Refugees, by Michael Adame, Tala Atassi, Ahsan Sayed, and Crispin Smith, students in the Systemic Justice Project at Harvard Law School, provided ex- cellent background and context. We are grateful to members of the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Project’s advisory group—HIAS, Human Rights Watch, the International Refugee Assistance Project, and the International Rescue Committee—for their thoughtful feedback and com- DOI: https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V5.I1.5 155 \\jciprod01\productn\T\TWL\5-1\TWL106.txt unknown Seq: 2 29-DEC-17 8:20 156 TEXAS A&M LAW REVIEW [Vol. 5 ABSTRACT At a time when the U.S. refugee admissions program is under serious threat and the world’s displaced population is at its highest, this Report sets forth extensive recommendations regarding the United States’ role in protecting vul- nerable refugees and compliance with its commitments under domestic and international law that together safeguard people fleeing persecution and fear- ing return to torture. The Report also identifies key national security reasons for supporting and enhancing the refugee program in keeping with U.S. for- eign policy priorities. Additionally, the Report provides an in-depth discussion of the robust, multistep security-assessment mechanisms already in place for screening refugees; offers viable policy solutions to improve the integration of resettled refugees through enhanced collaboration among government agen- cies, private resettlement agencies, and sponsors involved in domestic resettle- ment; and demonstrates the positive economic impact of refugee resettlement in the United States. Drawing on the perspectives of longtime domestic refugee resettlement experts, the Report also provides fresh insights into how public- private partnerships function in refugee resettlement and the ways in which they can be strengthened. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................. 158 R II. METHODOLOGY ......................................... 160 R III. BACKGROUND ON SYRIAN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES .................................... 162 R IV. LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK ...................... 168 R A. Legal Framework ................................... 168 R B. Policy Framework .................................. 173 R 1. National Security ............................... 173 R a. International Leverage and Credibility ...... 174 R b. Regional Stability ........................... 176 R c. Countering Terrorist Recruitment ........... 177 R mentary from the Project’s inception to the drafting of the Report. Larry Yungk, se- nior resettlement officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ regional office in Washington, D.C., provided helpful insights into the resettlement process. Mana Azarmi volunteered countless hours of her time to coordinate a team of Harvard Law School students who contributed to the final phases of producing the Report: Alex Andresian, Lindsay Anne Bailey, Emma Buchsbaum, Dalia Deak, Ed- ward Delman, Christian Diederich, Paavani Garg, Ariel Giumarelli, Carys Goles- worthy, Drew Henderson, Katelyn Kang, Annika Lichtenbaum, Meghan Liu, Sarah Lu, Nate Mackenzie, Natalie McCauley, Sarah Mishkin, Ioana Moldovan, James Pol- lack, Brianna Rennix, Charlotte Robinson, and Katie Taylor. We are also grateful to Michelle Deakin, Robb London, Courtney Majocha, and Julie Vakoc of the Harvard Law School Communications Office; Stephen Wiles and Heather Pierce of the Harvard Law School Library; and Elizabeth Hopkins of the Harvard Law School Copy Center for their assistance with the production, printing, and dissemination of the Report. Special thanks are due to former Harvard Law School Dean and Professor Martha Minow; Dean for Administration Francis X. McCrossan; Megan Moore from the Harvard Office of Sponsored Programs; and Devin Advani, Matt Gruber, Leslie Gruhn, and Scott Sarian of the Finance Office for their support and for guiding us through to the Project’s completion. \\jciprod01\productn\T\TWL\5-1\TWL106.txt unknown Seq: 3 29-DEC-17 8:20 2017] REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT 157 d. Security Screening Process for Refugees ..... 178 R 2. Economic Policy ................................ 182 R V. OVERSEAS REFUGEE PROCESSING AND ADMISSIONS .... 186 R A. The Overseas Refugee Screening Process ............ 187 R 1. UNHCR and the Referral Process .............. 187 R 2. The Security Clearance Process ................. 190 R 3. Enhanced Review Process for Syrian Refugees ........................................ 191 R 4. In-Person Interview ............................. 191 R 5. Approval and Admission to the United States. 193 R B. Obstacles to Efficient and Effective Overseas Refugee Processing and Recent Improvements ............... 194 R 1. Security Checks and New Technology .......... 195 R 2. Staffing Shortages, Security Concerns Regarding Travel to the Region, and Alternatives to In- Person Interviews ............................... 198 R VI. DOMESTIC RESETTLEMENT .............................. 202 R A. The Process of Domestic Resettlement .............. 203 R 1. PRM’s Reception and Placement Program ..... 203 R 2. Department of Health and Human Services’ ORR...........................................