U.S. plans to expand refugees admissions for people in Central America
The U.S. plans to expand its refugee admissions program to help people in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday.
"I am pleased to announce that we have plans to expand the U.S. refugee admissions program in order to help vulnerable families," Kerry said at the National Defense University.
Kerry said the U.S. wants to provide a "safe and legal alternative" to the dangerous journey many people from Central America embark on.
The U.S. will work with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations to identify people who need refugee protection, according to the State Department. These people include human rights defenders who have been targeted and people targeted by criminal gangs.
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It's not clear how many more refugees the U.S. plans to accept from those three countries, but there are already plans to admit 85,000 refugees during the current fiscal year that ends in September. Ten thousand of them are people who are fleeing the Syrian civil war.
Kerry said the refugee crisis isn't just one that occurs in Syria or the Middle East.
"It is a global challenge of historic proportions and dimensions. And it tests our values, our self confidence and our very humanity," Kerry said.
After the speech, he will meet Wednesday with people who work in a resettlement center in Silver Spring, Maryland. He said their work is occurring as political rhetoric provokes fear of incoming refugees.
"We can both maintain the highest security standards and live up to our best traditions as Americans by welcoming those in need of help to our great country. That is who we are. That is what we do," he said.
The issue over accepting refugees has been controversial since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks as some have feared that potential terrorists could use the U.S. refugee program to enter the country. Just last week, two Iraqi refugees were arrested in a U.S. terror sweep in California and Texas.
The plan also happens as the Department of Homeland Security conducts raids to detain and deport hundreds of immigrant families who have illegally crossed the border into the U.S. Many Democrats on Capitol Hill and the Democratic presidential candidates have called for the raids to be halted.
