We are a big federal government. Like you all we can do come we all have to do as local governments, you have to do 20 things at a time every day. The same applies for us. We want to make sure we give you the tools to help give your folks back home information about the process. I will turn it over to simon. Before we do that, any questions before we go to the Refugee Resettlement . Thank you so much. Let me go ahead and introduce the next three panelists. Simon henshaw is a career officer at the u. S. Foreign service. Currently serving as Principal Deputy assistant secretary of the beer of population, refugees, and migration. The bureau of population. Barbara strack to my left is a joint u. S. Citizen and citizenship and Immigration Services as chief of the Refugee Affairs division. She manages the refugee core and Headquarters Staff to support u. S. Refugee admissions and admissions program. She worked in both the public and private sectors directing a project on immigration at the National Immigration forum serving in the policy office at the former immigration and Naturalization Service and practicing law in washington, d. C. Firm. Rob carey also to my left directs the office of Refugee Resettlement, the administration for children and families in the department of health and Human Services. He came to local are from International Rescue committee where he excelled held position figures i present of resettlement and migration policy come responsibly and agencies advocacy immigration and the trafficking and Community Development policy issues. Before that he served for 10 years as Vice President of resettlement overseeing irc assistance to refugees. Why dont we start with simon to my right. Welcome. Thank you very much. A pleasure to be here. Thank you for the warm introduction. Thanks to all of you for braving the weather. If any of your from the north as i am and you are planning to stay the weekend, youre in for a treat. [laughter] there are nearly 20 million refugees in the world. The vast majority of these refugees will receive support in the countries to which they fled and so they can voluntarily and safely return home. In fact, i want to make this point, though its not the main point of todays meeting, the vast amount of the effort of the United States government, my bureau and other elements in the u. S. Government, the vast after we make when it comes refugees is supporting them overseas. A small number of refugees may be allowed to become citizens in the country to which they fled, but an even smaller number, primarily those with the most probable will be resettled in a third country. However fewer than 1 of all refugees are eventually resettled in the country. Of the 1 , the u. S. Takes over half. The crisis in syria is a dramatic illustration of the humankind situation refugees face. Syrians are now the largest refugee population in the world, numbering over 2 million. Another 7. 6 million have fled their homes but are trying to survive inside transit. The government of turkey estimates it hosts almost 2 million syrians. Many more are spread over jordan, egypt, lebanon, and iraq. In fact, 25 of lebanons population is Syrian Refugees. The United States has provided over 4. 5 putting dollars in humanitarian assistance for the region since the beginning of the crisis. This includes food, shelter, health care and education. While our main effort is aimed at supporting Syrian Refugees in the region we will resettle a small percentage in the u. S. And as i said before, our program will be aimed at resettle in the most vulnerable members as well as demonstrating our support for the countries in the region over burdened by high number of refugees. While maintaining the United States leadership role in humanitarian protection, an integral part of our mission is to assure Refugee Resettlement opportunities go only to those who are eligible for such protection and who are not known to rescind a risk to the safety and security of our country. Our number one concern is security. Accordingly, the program is committed to deterring and detecting fraud among those seeking to resettle in the United States, applicants to the program are subject to more intensive screening and any other type of traveler to the u. S. In order to protect against threats to our National Security. The department of state collaborates with the department of Homeland Security on this and closely with the centers for Disease Control and protection to protect the health of u. S. Bound refugees and the u. S. Public. Our Refugee Resettlement program was premised on the idea that refugees should become economically selfsufficient as quickly as possible. The department of state works domestically with agencies participating in the program to ensure that refugees receive services in the first 3090 days after arrival in accordance to the standards. During and after this initial resettlement period, the office of Refugee Resettlement at the department of health and Human Services provide leadership, Technical Assistance and funds for states, the District Of Columbia and nonprofit organizations to help refugees become selfsufficient and integrated into the u. S. Society. Upon arrival, refugees are immediately eligible for unemployment and after one year are required to apply for adjustment of status of lawful permanent residents. Five years after admission to refugees been granted lawful permanent resident status is eligible to apply for citizenship. The vast majority of refugees go on to lead productive lives, receive an education, and work hard. Some serve in the us military and undertake other forms of service for their communities and our country. While as we were all aware that program has become controversial in some circles, in fact he continues to enjoy substantial support from state and local governments as well as Community Members in the vast majority of the locations where we work which is in 48 states, 173 cities and towns, and 304 sites. As a Publicprivate Partnership requires the support of american nongovernmental organizations, charities, faithbased groups and thousands of volunteers in support of the program in hundreds of communities across the country. We simply could not do this without their support. In closing let me thank you for your support. While starting like many in the United States may be daunting, it offers help and unparalleled opportunities. It is a chance that we can escape from violence and persecution, not to start again. The assistance of your communities provide helps newcomers find their footing and become a part of the community. Refugees are not the only ones who benefit of the. To add to americas vitality and diversity, and make substantial contributions to economic and cultural life. Thank you very much. Thank you, simon. Why dont we have, before we take individual questions why dont we go through the others. Barbara. Thank you much and thank you for the invitation to be a today and meet with this conference and your guests. As the mere mention in the introduction i work for u. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We are an Agency Within the department of Homeland Security. And particularly with respect to Refugee Resettlement we are the operational partner with the state department for the overseas portion of Refugee Resettlement. One of the things i have learned to emphasize in talking about Refugee Resettlement in the last few months is the fact that as simon describes, the vast number of refugees in the world and a very small number of refugees are able for resettlement, remember the United States decides which refugees we choose to offer resettlement to. Its really not a situation where the refugees have the opportunity in most instances to say they would like to come to the United States. So in the first instance we are working with the United NationsRefugee Agency in terms of applying the criteria of who are the most wonderful and or the candidate for resettlement to the United States. What people i in my office do, most are based in washington but we work closely with the state department staff, and we fan out around the world to the locations were refugees live. And we conduct in person interviews in those locations. We are typically in any court of the fiscal year will be in 1215 different locations around the world, in asia, africa, the middle east, europe. So we tried to go whether wheree refugees are and where the need for resettlement is the greatest. We put a tremendous emphasis on the training that those officers receive. They receive basic training and protection law but theyl they l also receive detailed information about a particular population there going to be working with. Am i to close to the microphone . Thank you. So what we are doing in those interviews is high level, two things, determine is the person a refugee under u. S. Law . Would ask questions about whether they have suffered persecution or have a wellfounded fear of persecution. The other thing is checking on whether they are admissible to the United States under u. S. Immigration law. That deals with things like if someone has a criminal history, if they would be a threat to National Security, if they might have a communicable disease, and large number of grounds of inadmissibility so we explore those end up onetoone interview with the applicant. The other thing that we do in the background while were anything applicants is uscis and the state Department Share responsibility ministry the security checks that simon alluded to. The security checks have been in place for refugee applicants since the immediate wake of september 11. There was a pause and refugee admissions act in 2001 while the white house and National Security council took a look at the security checks. Checks. They chose at that point the best set of, the best suite of checks that could be accomplished at that point but what we have done collectively by represented here on this panel and many Government Agencies that are not here, those checks of an enhanced over time. So we added department of defense fingerprint checks in 2007 when we started largescale processing of iraq applicants. Thats been expand the applicants of all nationalities. We started working with the National Counterterrorism center and we are able to add checks to let check against a broader range of information held by the government. Thats been an iterative process of enhancing the checks as time goes on. That is continuing today. We are committed to that. The other thing i wanted to mention as well is there has been increased attention to Refugee Resettlement in many communities in players who traditionally didnt have a high level of awareness of the program, and we realized that our public communication material needed some attention. Weve worked hard on our website now. We have Nothing Better information to help people understand who our refugees, what is Refugee Resettlement and what the screening processes are that we take seriously before people travel. I did want to let you know thats a resource that is there in general for education and some of it is suitable if you were having a community meeting, a stakeholder meeting. Theres information that could be downloaded, printed, and head out to stakeholders who have an interest of whats happening. Theres also a short video narrated by secretary johnson from dhs. We try to enhance those Public Information tools and we would be interested in hearing back if there are Additional Needs that you feel in your community that would be useful. If we can help communicate better we are very interested in being partners with you on the public communication. Very good. Thank you, barbara. Robert. Thank you. I want to start out by just thinking this group here, both my partners but also the mayors and your representatives. The u. S. Refugee Resettlement Program is very much a Publicprivate Partnership but the most important work happens at the municipal level, the Committee Level and would not be possible without the support of countless volunteers and specific organizations that participate in the process. Service to the most vulnerable is central to the mission of the Resettlement Program and our success as a nation of immigrants is rooted in american values, quality and opportunity which secure our commitment to fully welcome the, integrate newcomers into the fabric of our nations. These efforts benefit not only the refugees and their families but also the receiving community. I think its important remember the refugees come bringing talent, drive. These are businesses at very high rates. They go to work quite quickly. They pay taxes. They become involved as members of society. They are an asset. I think thats an important thing. Theyve always been an asset. Its a central tenet of our country. They bring a vitality and renewed ideas, and thats demonstrated throughout communities and economies. Its also very much a Publicprivate Partnership. The u. S. Strategy program both that state department and the hhs components align closely and well close with nonprofit organizations and volunteer organizations across the United States who bring to the process not only a large engagement of volunteers and religious institutions and civic organizations, but also Community Commitment to this long and important tradition. The services that oor provides are closely coordinated in a very coherent fashion. I think thats important remember. These things did not happen. In addition to the consultation process that are led by the processes, that are led by the white house before the is a president ial determination as to the number of refugees to be admitted in a given year, in the coming year, that number is established in the current year at 85,000. The are also municipal and Community Based organizations that counsel at the local level. Oor has partners in each state. It is in each state to state refugee coordinator whose charge is to coordinate revision of Services Within that state and to ensure that that coordination process takes place. Theres also a state Refugee Health coordinator who ensures that health Services Within the state are coordinated to ensure that refugees receive both Public Health screenings as they are arrive. The are screened before admission but once again upon arrival to the United States and any ongoing medical issues and services are provided in a court amid and efficient fashion. Refugee Services Include shortterm cash and medical assistance. The thrust of the program is, the primary directive, is to ensure the refugees become selfsufficient as quickly as possible. Cell all of the self Supportive Services which are provided, whether they be englishlanguage instruction, direct employment, psychosocial services, School Adjustment programs, or a host of other programs are all really focus on ensuring that refugees become selfsufficient as quickly as possible. Because the Financial Support provided through the office of Refugee Resettlement to the states is quite timelimited. Financial assistance through the Refugee Cash Assistance Program has a maximum of eight months provision. Refugees are categorically eligible as other individuals who are legally present in the United States would be for other services, but there is a time limit on the cash assistance and expectation and the retail is about refugees become employed quite quickly adequately contributing to their local communities and providing that talent and economic benefit. We believe, and this is echoed in the white house initiative, which is an essential tenet of the program, that refuge