News from the Week of September 18th

Here's the latest round-up of what we've been reading and watching this week, from the news and around the web:

After the New York Times reported that the Trump Administration may cut this year’s refugee cap to below 50,000, VFAI Founder Scott Cooper penned a Letter to the Editor. Cooper, who recently returned from an 11-day trip to Iraq and Jordan, highlights the strategic imperative of American leadership on refugee admissions.

The Administration will revise its controversial travel ban (which banned nationals from six Majority- Muslim countries from traveling to the U.S.) with “more targeted restrictions affecting a slightly larger number of countries,” The Wall Street Journal reports. The new rules do not address the limits on refugees from the six countries, leaving that question open for the Supreme Court to decide on October 10.

In July 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) prepared a report on the fiscal impact of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which analyzed both federal government expenditures on resettled refugees as well as the revenue provided to the government by refugees. The administration reportedly rejected the findings of the report, which found that the net fiscal impact of refugees was positive over a ten year period.

Once they are safely resettled, studies show that refugees become productive, self-reliant members of society. However, they face many challenges including personal trauma, discrimination, and bureaucracy. A recent report sheds light on how you can help refugees integrate and thrive in your own community.

A new documentary series is helping uncover stories about Vietnam veterans and refugees who fled the conflict. Award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick spoke to over one hundred people to get a “360-degree view of the war,” including the perspective of the Vietnamese who found refuge here in the United States. Check it out on PBS.

The Six Word Memoirs project, in collaboration with ABC's Fresh Off the Boat, compiled six-word stories from “students, refugees, politicians, actors, writers, activists, and more” to get to the essence of the immigrant experience. We enjoyed this tongue in cheek look at what it’s like to be new to America.

Refugee Spotlight of the Week: Next week, the administration will announce the number of refugees the United States will resettle in 2018. Four refugees—Ghassan Shehadeh (Syria), Uyen Nguyen (Vietnam), Abdi Iftin (Somalia) and Eiman Ali (Somalia) – gathered in Queens, New York at the childhood home of President Trump “to send an unequivocal message to world leaders: refugees are welcome here.”