IRLI sues for details on the Obama Administration’s unlawful refugee programs

April 15, 2016

Holding the executive branch accountable to the rule of law

April 15, 2016

(Washington, D.C.) – On behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) announced today that it filed a lawsuit (attached here) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking records from the U.S. Department of State about the Obama Administration’s unlawful and politicized refugee programs. (Federation for American Immigration Reform v. Department of State, Civil No.1:16-cv-00715). The records being sought span five separate requests, each of which has been unlawfully stonewalled by an Administration that purports to be the “most transparent” ever.

Under U.S. immigration law, only those who face persecution on account of “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion” can be admitted as refugees. U.S. refugee law does not cover those fleeing from “high-crime” regions of the world, such as Central America. Just after the Obama Administration announced its second unilateral amnesty in 2014, it established the so-called In Country Refugee/Parole Program for Central American Minors (CAM), which uses taxpayer-dollars to fly-in Central American juveniles to be “reunited” with their mostly illegal alien parents and potential legal guardians residing in the country. It’s believed over 100,00 have entered the U.S. through the program so far.

Through its FOIA requests and lawsuit, FAIR is investigating whether the Obama Administration is complying with refugee law as well as executive parole authority, which it’s also misusing to facilitate the program. FAIR’s requests also cover the State Department’s broader refugee program, particularly its failure to communicate with state governments about its Syrian-resettlement plans, another violation of federal law. The information will assist state governments wishing to put a halt to the Administration’s plan to take in “refugees” whose mass influx will put further strain on their already burdened school, health care and welfare systems.

IRLI Executive Director, Dale L. Wilcox, commented, “The records we expect to obtain in response to our suit we hope will assist states across the nation who must bear the brunt of Obama’s lawless, open-borders policies. Wilcox continued, “The American public, which is forced to house these so-called ‘refugees’ is understandably concerned for the social cohesion of their communities, for the fiscal strains on their states’ budgets, and for the sanctity of our immigration law.”