2025 House Resolution 132

Whereas, The Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the admission of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States, as well as the granting of asylum to refugees, on a case-by-case basis. Refugees are a vulnerable population, facing persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), these individuals may be admitted to the country after a series of interviews, a health screening, and multiple background checks. Some refugees are referred to the program by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a U.S. embassy, or a non-governmental organization, while others are privately sponsored or seek admission to reunite with family members who were granted asylum or admitted as a refugee. After refugees are admitted into the United States, they receive transitional assistance and referrals for services as needed to help them establish a new life in this country; and

Whereas, On January 20, 2025, President Trump suspended the USRAP indefinitely. In Executive Order No. 14,163, entitled “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,” the President declared that “entry into the United States of refugees under the USRAP would be detrimental to the interests of the United States” and directed that the entry of refugees under this program be generally suspended until such time as the President determines that the resumption of the program is in the interests of the United States. The rationales given for this decision were the President’s concern about public safety and national security, uncertainties about the ability of refugees to “fully and appropriately assimilate into the United States,” and the need to preserve taxpayer resources for U.S. citizens; and

Whereas, This executive order was quickly challenged in federal court as exceeding the President’s statutory and constitutional authority. A federal district court enjoined the federal government from suspending the USRAP on February 25, 2025, but, while the appeal of this case is ongoing, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has limited the injunction such that it only applies to a very narrow subset of individuals who had nearly completed the process to be admitted as a refugee by January 20, 2025. While Executive Order No. 14,163 calls for reports to be submitted every 90 days regarding whether the USRAP should be resumed, the first deadline for this report has passed without any indication that the President’s policy will change; and

Whereas, The USRAP should be reinstated. As was stated in the September 2024 report to Congress on the USRAP, “[r]efugees are the most thoroughly screened and vetted group to enter the United States” – they do not pose a threat to our safety or security. Concerns about assimilation are similarly overblown; the USRAP has offered a cultural orientation for refugees, and, upon coming to the United States, refugees become critical members of the communities they live in. The United States has accepted more than three million refugees since 1975, and we should not abandon our commitment to the protection of this most vulnerable population; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the federal government to reinstate the United States Refugee Admissions Program; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, and the United States Secretary of State.