Rogers /1 Senator Mamaradlo

S. R_____

A BILL
To require the United States to reduce the application process into the United States to six months.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the American Refugee Act of 2017.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) In the last year, the US permitted 70,000 refugees into the US, including and 27,700 of them are from East/South
Asia
2) In 2014, 69,975 refugees were admitted to the United States and documents to travel to the US were given to 8,
235 people.
3) While the UNHCR reports less than 1 percent of all refugees are eventually resettled in third countries, the United
States welcomes over half of these refugees, more than all other resettlement countries combined
4) Worldwide, the average processing time is about one year to 18 months and approved refugees do not get visas;
they receive a packet that allows them to enter the US
5) Over 90 % of registered refugees live in rural areas, about 4,310,725 of them.
6) The I-30 Petition is for citizens to establish the relationships to certain alien relatives to travel to the US.
7) There are 4,810, 537 registered refugees worldwide, 2.1 million of them are in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon.
2.7 million are in Turkey.
8) Only 53% of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) funds are
met and there is a current 700 million dollar funding gap between the two organizations
9) The UNHCR will provide support to 23 800 Iraqi refugees reaching nearly 96 percent of Iraqi refugees in Syria.
10) There are no formal refugee camps in Lebanon and, as a result, more than a million registered Syrians live in
over 1,700 communities and locations across the country, often sharing small basic lodgings with other refugee
families in overcrowded conditions.
11)Only 3% of UNHCRs budget comes from the UN the remaining 97% comes from voluntary contributions from
governments, corporations, and individual donors
12) Refugees are the most thoroughly screened travelers to our country; this includes security checks, examination
of all available biographic and biometric data, consultation of a broad array of law enforcement, intelligence
community databases, and extensive interviews before they are cleared to travel to the United States.
13) U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry announces nearly $439 million in new U.S. Government (USG)
humanitarian funding for Syria and neighboring countries.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The American Refugee Act of 2017 declares that the process to allow refugees into the United States must happen
between a three to six month timespan, instead of the current twelve to eighteen month timespan. Each incoming
refugee must be a registered refugee in the United Nations and birth certificate or other identification forms. Once
applicable, all screenings, interviews, and health tests already existent in the admission program must happen within
two days for the participating refugee. Results of these tests must be sent within two months after testing. Travel
documents must be sent one to two months after the participating refugee hears about the test results; more time can
be made available depending on the refugees circumstances.In order to support the incoming refugees, all refugees
must be accepted in all states to distribute refugee population.
B) The UNHR is the the administering agency and the Department of State and the Department of Homeland
Security are the enforcing agency of the government. As the American Refugee Act of 2017 requires more labor to
shorten admission process, the funding is hereby set at $25 million from the military budget.
C) This act shall be enacted on January 1, 2

Press Release
There are currently 21.3 million refugees worldwide. This crisis sparked world attention when a three
old boys body was found on the shores in Turkey. The boys name was Aylan Kurdi and he drowned with
his five year old brother and mother while the family tried to escape the Syrian War to resettle in Greece.
There are currently 21.3 million refugees worldwide. This crisis sparked world attention when a three old
boys body was found on the shores in Turkey. The boys name was Aylan Kurdi and he drowned with his
five year old brother and mother while the family tried to escape the Syrian War to resettle in Greece. As a
response to the Syrian Refugees Crisis and the recent Summit for Refugee and Migrant, the United States
shall reduce their 18 month admission process to six months because it is an international global issue, the
United States is not playing its part, and the admission process is too long.
United States need to support the Syrian Refugee Crisis because it is the largest humanitarian crisis
since World War II, and the largest humanitarian crisis so far in the 21sr century. Millions of people live in
a country that does not protects their human rights to live, so they depend on humanitarian organizations
like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, for help Despite the overwhelming
statistic of 21.3 million refugeesworldwide, only 4,810,537 of them are registered (United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees). This demonstrates the unorganization in the UNHCR and how the
organization cannot keep up with the thousands of new refugees everyday. According to the Syrian Refugee
Response, Only 53% of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) and Humanitarian Response
Plan (HRP) funds are met and there is over 700 million dollar funding gap between the two organizations
(Syrian Situation 2016).). This emphasizes how entire countries are not giving enough funds for these two
organizations to support the refugee crisis.
The United States is not playing its part in the refugee crisis. Compared to other countries around the
world, the United States is only giving a minimal effort. In 2014, 69,975 refugees were admitted to the
US, documents to travel to the US were given to 8,235 persons (US Refugee Admission Program
FAQs). This emphasizes how the long wait to enter the country and how it is only a minuscule amount of
refugees are accepted compared to other countries who have a smaller economy with America. Pakistan,
Iran, and Syria have the largest refugee population at 1.9 million, 1.1 million, and 1 million respectively
(By Comparison). This represents the large difference between Americas acceptance to refugees and
other countries.
The refugee admissions process in America is too strict and time consuming which can be reduced.
Refugees are the most screened travelers in America; this includes security checks, examination of all
biographic data, consultation of law enforcement and intelligence community data bases, and extensive
interviews (AidRefugees.gov). This emphasizes the long process to be admitted into the country and the
unnecessary steps to ensure that no terrorists is entered into the country. Worldwide, the average
processing time is about one year to 18 months; admitted refugees receive travel documents instead of visas
to enter the US (Refugee Admissions). The United States admission process is a long time for a refugee
to wait in a dangerous country where war is occurring all around them.
The United States should shorten their admission process for refugees because the refugee crisis is a
major humanitarian issue, America is not doing enough, and Americas current admissions program is too
strict. The United has increased admissions and grants to humanitarian organizations, but all efforts is not
enough. This issue became such a concern for the United Nations, that a summit just for refugees was
called on September 16, 2016. Together, all UN General Assembly delegates signed the New York
Declaration to promote the rights between refugees and countries. As the host country of the UN General
Assembly, the United States must act as a good representation of a caregiver for humanitarian issues. It is
not just the UN delegates that can help refugees. The refugee crisis is an underrated issue in America that
deserves to be discussed more frequently as shown in the recent Presidential Debate. Vote for this bill so all
Americans can wake up to a global issue to millions of not just homeless people, but country-less people.