WASHINGTON – Congressional Judiciary Committee leaders are expressing frustration and concern with an Obama Administration plan to admit into the United States an unknown number of refugees who Australia has refused to admit. The Administration never disclosed to Congress that it was negotiating a deal with Australia, even though it was apparently in the works when Administration officials provided a legally-required consultation to Congress on refugees in September.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte today expressed concern that the Obama Administration’s secret negotiations with Australia left Americans in the dark about the full scope of its resettlement plans. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, the chairmen also said the plan raises other questions, including how many refugees will be resettled in the United States and why Australia refused to resettle them. According to administration officials, the refugees are largely from Iran, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Sudan. The State Department has designated Iran and Sudan as state sponsors of terrorism.
The chairmen are requesting a copy of the agreement and a classified briefing to gain a better understanding of the unilateral international refugee agreement that the Administration negotiated without Congressional consultation.
Full text of the Grassley-Goodlatte letter here.
