How the Refugee Resettlement Process Works:
A refugee is someone who has fled from his or her home country and cannot return because of a fear of persecution based on religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Most refugees receive support in the country to which they fled until they can safely return to their home country. A small number - primarily those who are at the highest risk - are resettled in a third country. The United Nations reports that less than 1 percent of all refugees eventually resettle in third countries. The United States welcomes over half of these refugees, more than all other resettlement countries combined.
Most refugees begin the resettlement process by registering with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Those seeking admission to the United States move through one of nine resettlement support centers that operate around the globe.
Applicants undergo an adjudication interview and security screening. A health screening is also mandatory to protect against contagious diseases. The process typically takes between 18 to 24 months.
Once they are accepted, the refugees must receive “sponsorship assurance” from a U.S.-based resettlement agency that is experienced in providing assistance to newly arrived refugees.
In Georgia, five organizations have contracts to help with refugee resettlement in the state: New American Pathways, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Services of Georgia, Catholic Charities and World Relief.
The groups consult with state officials about the incoming refugees but ultimately decisions on the numbers and locations of the refugees are determined by the organizations and the U.S. State Department.
Source: U.S. State Department and resettlement organizations
Gov. Nathan Deal said Monday he would oppose the Obama administration's efforts to relocate Syrian refugees in Georgia, joining more than a dozen other Republican governors who raised concerns about the resettlement program in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.
Deal issued an executive order instructing state agencies to halt any involvement in resettling new Syrian refugees. And he directed state emergency management officials to “confirm” the backgrounds of those already here. Deal said he wants to make sure the 59 Syrian refugees who have settled in Georgia since the bloody conflict began in their homeland pose no security risk.
“We think that’s the appropriate thing to do until the federal government and Congress can weigh in on an appropriate way to make sure that we’re not subjecting our homeland to the kind of problems that Paris saw,” Deal said in an interview.
Deal's remarks came after Republican leaders of states ranging from deep-red Alabama to deep-blue Massachusetts and Illinois issued similar statements about the lethal attacks, which French officials said were organized in parts of Syria seized by the Islamic State terror group. At least one of the attackers apparently posed as a migrant fleeing the war-torn country.
The governors’ opposition is largely symbolic. States do not have the power to prevent the federal government from relocating Syrian refugees to Georgia even if state leaders oppose it. And Deal acknowledged Monday that the federal government can work around the roadblocks his administration assembled.
“We’re going to do our best,” said Deal. “We think its appropriate for us to take care of our people here in Georgia, and we think this is the appropriate step.”
But the stampede of state-level opposition has stoked a larger national debate as conservative lawmakers and GOP presidential candidates call to end funding for the program, which aims to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. over the next year.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., argued that the White House can’t afford to monitor the incoming Syrian refugees, including some he called “likely embedded terrorists,” while also stepping up counter-terrorism efforts across the globe.
‘Shameful’ or ‘irresponsible’?
President Barack Obama on Monday mounted a fierce defense of the program. He said State Department screening subjects refugees to "rigorous screening and security checks" and said calls by some Republicans for religious tests for the refugees was "shameful."
"Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values," he said from a conference in Turkey. "Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security. We can and must do both."
Many governors said their opposition was a matter of national security.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared he will "not stand complicit to a policy that places citizens of Alabama in harm's way." Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a GOP presidential candidate, said it was "irresponsible and severely disconcerting" to continue to take in Syrian refugees. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he made his decision because "security comes first."
Some of the sharpest criticism, however, came from governors of states that have accepted relatively few Syrian refugees. The State Department, for instance, said 14 refugees from Syria had been processed through a federal center in New Orleans so far. None had been processed in Alabama. More than 1,900 Syrian refugees have settled in the United States since 2011.
Paedia Mixon, who heads an Atlanta-based group which helps resettle refugees in Georgia, said she was stunned by the sudden change of heart on the refugee debate since September, when the world was moved by the heart-wrenching photo of a three-year-old Syrian migrant who washed up on a Turkish beach after his boat capsized.
“We are not making ourselves safer by shutting down our resettlement process to Syrians,” said Mixon, who runs the New American Pathways organization. “This is a struggle for hearts and minds. And the best part way to fight the brutality and cruelty and viciousness of a group like ISIS is by being compassionate and a leader in the world.”
Mixon and other advocates for refugees argue that those arriving in the United States have weathered strenuous security screening. But critics, including Deal, say that vetting is hobbled by gaps in intelligence.
A skeptical Georgia
Georgia leaders have sounded a skeptical note about refugees for months.
Deal in September said he didn't want to see the number of refugees resettling in Georgia to increase, repeating an assertion that has been disputed by some advocates that the state takes in more than its fair share of refugees.
Georgia, the eighth largest state with a population of 10 million, accepted the ninth largest number of refugees among states last fiscal year at 2,694.
His administration also previously asked the State Department to keep the number of refugees resettling in Georgia “static” going into the next fiscal year.
And Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, usually one of the region’s most forceful advocates of a welcoming policy to refugees, said Monday the federal government’s vetting of refugees should be “significantly enhanced and changed.”
“We’re going to have to redouble our efforts of vetting the individuals that come into the United States of America in a way that we would not have before,” said Reed. “The United States government is responsible for that vetting process and I think this needs to be reviewed and redoubled. And we cannot proceed status quo.”
Some lawmakers are pushing state and federal leaders to take further action. State Sen. Michael Williams, R-Cumming, is among the Republicans calling for Congress to suspend the resettlement program. He said Monday it would be "unwise and immoral" for Georgia to accept more refugees from Syria.
“I pray that governors across our nation band together and put an end to President Obama’s reckless Syrian refugee resettlement policy,” said Williams. “The risk is far too great.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kelly Yamanouchi contributed to this story
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