Why Is It So Difficult for Syrian Refugees to Get Into the U.S.?
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/magazine/why-is-it-so-difficult-for-syrian-refugees-to-get-into-the-us.html
‘‘It’s extremely difficult to get into the United States as a refugee — the odds of winning the Powerball are probably better,’’ says David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, which helps place refugees from 40 countries in American cities. And Syrians are subject to an extra degree of vetting. Although all refugees are screened by the National Counterterrorism Center, the F.B.I., the Defense Department, the State Department and United States Customs and Border Protection, among other intelligence agencies, Syrians must complete what is known as the Enhanced Syrian Review. This is an added screening by caseworkers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, which assesses each Syrian case and selects some for processing through the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate office. This extra step was put in place because of the difficulty of assessing the allegiances of the various rebel groups in Syria’s continuing war — what Barbara Strack, chief of the Refugee Affairs Division at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, describes as ‘‘the myriad actors and dynamic nature of the conflict.’’