Gov Stitt on refugee resettlement program

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt

Currently in conservative circles refugee influx to Oklahoma has added stress to existing illegal immigration / criminal invader concerns. In Tulsa, for example, a Law Clinic that once helped the poor with legal issues now exclusively helps immigrants because of a grant from Democrat power broker and former-Mayor Kathy Taylor’s family foundation.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (Republican) has been called out by no less than Fox News for welcoming refugees when Texas, for example, has blocked the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program.  Gov. Stitt last week answered critics of the program in a by-lined editorial, but apparently the daily paper only published his piece in a suburban edition (Skiatook).

Syrian Christian Protest

The entire state should consider Gov. Stitt’s position and Tulsa Today is glad to help. 

Governor Stitt wrote:

When President Trump was sworn into office, he promised to strengthen our national security and bolster policies that prioritize the needs of American citizens. One of the first areas he tackled was the United States’ refugee resettlement program, a program first established in 1948 by the U.S. Congress.

Wikipedia Image: “From the Old to the New World” shows German emigrants boarding a steamer in Hamburg, to New York. Harper’s Weekly, (New York) November 7, 1874.

A large majority of refugees assigned by the federal government to Oklahoma in the past 15 years have come from Myanmar, a southeast Asian country ranked by Open Doors USA as #18 for extreme persecution of Christians.

In the past year, President Trump directed the State Department to strengthen the vetting process for refugees and he reduced the cap on refugees coming into the U.S. to 18,000 for 2020 – a historic low for our nation.

Governor Kevin Stitt

I am a supporter of President Trump’s refugee policies and his administration’s efforts to strengthen the security review of applicants, a process that now includes social media checks and gives more authority to adjudicators to deny refugee applications. I also appreciate that the President’s executive order, issued on Sept. 26, 2019, empowers states with a mechanism to further speak into the United States’ resettlement program.

As the President outlined in the executive order, I submitted consent for Oklahoma to continue to receive refugees, for the time being, and I will leverage the State’s consent authority to ensure the number of refugees entering our state does not exceed roughly 220 individuals this year, or 1.2% of the United States’ refugee intake, a size consistent with Oklahoma’s history on this matter.

A “refugee” is a term used for individuals fleeing dire political or religious persecution in their home countries and are eligible to legally relocate after a thorough vetting process by national security agencies.

Oklahomans have long extended a compassionate hand towards refugees. This was most recently demonstrated in a letter my office received from more than 100 Oklahoma faith leaders and by outreach from faith-based non-profits who are committed to the task of helping a refugee become a productive, contributing member of our society.

I respect and appreciate Oklahomans who stand ready to assist those fleeing persecution, and I will continue to support President Trump’s efforts to close loopholes across our immigration system and tighten security processes, as this gives much-needed assurance to Oklahoma’s communities about the integrity of the refugee program.

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