AUSTRALIA/FOREIGN POLICY/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “They were the asylum seekers Australia rejected, and President Trump resisted: the men stuck on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea because of Australia’s offshore detention policy.
Now 58 of them are on their way to the United States, boarding flights on Tuesday [1-23-18], according to American officials and asylum seekers on Manus. Forty more are expected to leave soon, along with 130 refugees from another detention center on the island of Nauru. They are all part of an agreement that Mr. Trump called a ‘dumb deal’ forged by President Barack Obama, now accelerating after months of secrecy, delays and conflict on Manus… They were all vetted extensively by American officials who conducted background checks and interviews, and they range in age and educational background. Many of them learned English while detained on Manus, and they are the third and largest group to have left Manus since Mr. Trump took office.
A few months ago, 54 refugees from Manus were resettled in various parts of the United States.
American officials in Australia have been saying for months that they were proceeding cautiously and deliberately, and the plan for the men who left Tuesday has been in the works for months.”
-Damien Cave, “Why the U.S. Is Taking 58 Refugees in a Deal Trump Called ‘Dumb’,” The New York Times online, Jan. 23, 2018