AUSTRALIA/IMMIGRATION/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The first refugees from Australia’s offshore detention centers will soon arrive in the U.S. under a resettlement deal that President Donald Trump blasted as ‘dumb,’ before his administration reluctantly agreed to honor it.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said about 50 refugees from Australian-backed detention camps in the South Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru would receive confirmation letters under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in coming days.
The U.S. State Department confirmed Wednesday [9-19-17] that 54 refugees had been given approval. ‘All refugees approved for travel to the United States from Nauru and Papua New Guinea have passed the same stringent vetting processes that apply to all refugees considered for admission to the United States, and any individual not deemed to have met our vetting requirements will not be admitted to the U.S.,’ a State official said.
Mr. Dutton said decisions on some 1,200 other refugees were expected ‘in due course.’
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was up to the U.S. to decide how many people were accepted under the ‘extreme vetting’ processes ordered by Mr. Trump. ‘President Trump had some reservations about it to say the least, but nonetheless, he is honoring that commitment made by his predecessor,’ he said on Australian television Wednesday.”
-Rob Taylor, “First Refugees Off to U.S. in Deal That Triggered Trump Tirade,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 20, 2017 02:41am