U.S. bishop decries Bush administration's 2004 refugee limit

Published: 2003-10-27

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The number of refugees the U.S. government will allow into the country next year "again falls short of historical admission levels reflecting the best humanitarian traditions of the American people," said a U.S. bishop. "The (Bush) administration must make more concerted efforts to identify refugees around the world in need of resettlement protection, particularly vulnerable refugees such as unaccompanied minors, women at risk and populations which have been mired in refugee camps for years," said Coadjutor Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration. The bishop's statement was issued in response to President Bush's Oct. 21 decision to only allow 50,000 refugees into the United States next year from specific regions of the world and an additional "unallocated reserve" of 20,000 to accommodate refugees from regions where emergency situations may force people to flee.

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