Volume 3
Page 17
April 2016 Edition
Analysis of Refugee Program Reform Bill
The Center for Immigration Studies has published an analysis of the
“Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act of 2016” (H.R. 4731). The
bill, introduced by Rep. Raul Labrador(R-Idaho) and House Judiciary
Committee Chair Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), was approved by the
Judiciary Committee last week. Modernizing the U.S. refugee program
is an urgent task, given that over half a million refugees have been
resettled in the U.S. since President Obama took office and most of
today’s refugees come from nations with a significant terrorist
presence.
Dan Cadman, a fellow with the Center and author of the report, said
“Although I would have liked for this bill to also address the asylum
program, it does make changes with clear merit to the refugee
program, changes which would reduce the program’s risks to national
security.” He continued, “The bill also properly places decisions on the
number of refugees to be admitted in the hands of Congress, and
respects the rights of citizens by allowing states and localities to refuse
refugee resettlement in their communities.”
Dan Cadman is a fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies
and a retired INS/ICE official with thirty years of government
experience. Mr. Cadman served as a senior supervisor and
manager at headquarters, as well as at field offices both
domestically and abroad. Within the immigration law enforcement
field, Mr. Cadman's knowledge and experience encompass,
among other things, criminal aliens, employer sanctions, and
national security and terrorism matters.
The analysis is here:
• Requiring the Department of Homeland Security to establish a fraud
detection program for refugee processing, to include
fraud detection and national security officials present at initial refugee
screenings;
• Tightening the statutory definition of “refugee;”
• Mandating that GAO track and report the use rates of taxpayerfunded public assistance and welfare programs.
About The Center for Immigration Studies
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit, research organization. Since our founding in
1985, we have pursued a single mission – providing immigration policymakers, the academic community, news media, and
concerned citizens with reliable information about the social, economic, environmental, security, and fiscal consequences of
legal and illegal immigration into the United States.
The Center is governed by a diverse board of directors that has included active and retired university professors, civil rights
leaders, and former government officials. Our research and analysis has been funded by contributions and grants from dozens
of private foundations, from the U.S. Census Bureau and Justice Department, and from hundreds of generous individual
donors.
Our board, our staff, our researchers, and our contributor base are not predominantly “liberal” or predominantly “conservative.”
Instead, we believe in common that debates about immigration policy that are well-informed and grounded in objective data will
lead to better immigration policies.
The data collected by the Center during the past quarter-century has led many of our researchers to conclude that current,
high levels of immigration are making it harder to achieve such important national objectives as better public schools, a cleaner
environment, homeland security, and a living wage for every native-born and immigrant worker. These data may support
criticism of US immigration policies, but they do not justify ill feelings toward our immigrant community. In fact, many of us at
the Center are animated by a “low-immigration, pro-immigrant” vision of an America that admits fewer immigrants but affords a
warmer welcome for those who are admitted.
For more information, visit http://www.cis.org/.