WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Senate colleagues wrote a letter requesting Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson provide an update on how the Administration screens refugees from conflict regions. In the letter, led by Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the senators emphasized that while it is a national security imperative that refugees be vetted comprehensively, the current humanitarian catastrophe demands that screening processes be conducted in a timely and efficient manner. The senators also requested an update on the schedule and timing of DHS interviews of refugee applicants in Lebanon and Iraq. Blumenthal, Murphy and Booker were joined by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Barbra Mikulski (D-MD).

“Over recent weeks, we have all seen the horrifying human toll of the massive flight of refugees from the Middle East. Facing the world’s worst crisis of forcibly displaced people since World War II, the international community is now grappling with how to make the global refugee resettlement system accommodate these record numbers at a scale and a pace that provides true emergency relief. We write you to request updates on refugee interview processing, especially as it functions in conflict regions," the senators wrote. 

Blumenthal, Murphy, Booker, Peters, Coons, Baldwin and Mikulski continued, "The Administration has proposed allowing 10,000 Syrian refugees resettle in the United States. However, refugees face a multi-year, multi-step screening process before they can be legally resettled. It is, of course, a national security imperative that anyone granted admission to the United States is vetted comprehensively. For this reason, we believe the Department of Homeland Security has an important role to play in alleviating the enormous pressure faced by many of our allies in the Middle East and Europe." 

Yesterday, Blumenthal urged the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to adopt a four-point plan to address unnecessary delays, duplicative screenings and costly logistical hurdles in order to expedite refugee processing. Murphy led a group of 27 senators, including Blumenthal, in calling for immediate emergency funding to provide relief to Syrian refugees and to increase capacity for refugee admissions to the United States.