Thread by @RAICESTEXAS

We call on Congress to do everything in its power to end the administration's attacks on asylum seekers and increase our refugee resettlement rates, even above historic norms (this is important because we've never done enough).

politico.com/story/2019/07/…

There is a dramatic fall in the no. of refugees fleeing religious persecution who resettled in the US under Trump.

Eg. the number of Iranian Christians resettled in the United States so far in fiscal 2019 is 66, a 97 percent drop from the 2,086 resettled in fiscal 2016 - @theIRC

Canada, despite having one-tenth of our population, resettled more people than us last year — 28,000 in 2018.

pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019…

Stepping back: Refugee resettlement is a crucial aspect of our obligations under international law.

Historically, the United States has resettled more refugees than any other country, by total number alone — 3 million since 1980.

pewresearch.org/global/2017/10…

The president’s monomaniacal focus on stopping immigration writ large has once again fallen on the backs of asylum-seekers, hurting the very people we and all other countries have an obligation to protect and shelter.

The travel ban, the border wall, metering, Migrant Protection Protocols and last week’s announcement that refugees transiting through third countries will be barred from seeking asylum

(Side note Trump's admin: we're suing on this one
raicestexas.org/2019/07/17/540…)

We've played and continue to play an active role in refugee resettlement in this country.

Since 2017, we've helped resettle 400 people in San Antonio alone — 65 in 2017, 156 in 2018, and 179 in 2019 thus far.

About half of our clients were female — 190, or 47.5%.

This resettlement involves finding housing, schools, jobs, language classes, and more for our clients. It’s the way that we integrate people into our communities — the very aspect of immigration conservatives claim to want so much.

If we can’t accept refugees under relatively normal conditions today, we will have no chance of doing so when the climate crisis worsens — and that is what is required of us as the richest nation on the planet.

We have to get this right, now.

Congress has to act.