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Infographic: The Screening Process for Refugee Entry into the United States

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November 20, 2015 at 7:09 PM ET by Amy Pope

Summary: 

A step-by-step guide to the rigorous process for refugee entry into the U.S.

‎Refugees undergo more rigorous screening than anyone else we allow into the United States. Here’s what the screening process looks like for them:

The Screening Process for Refugees Entry Into the United States (full text of the graphic written below the image)

The Full Text of the Graphic:


The Screening Process for Refugee Entry Into the United States

Recurrent vetting: Throughout this process, pending applications continue to be checked against terrorist databases, to ensure new, relevant terrorism information has not come to light. If a match is found, that case is paused for further review. Applicants who continue to have no flags continue the process. If there is doubt about whether an applicant poses a security risk, they will not be admitted.

  1. Many refugee applicants identify themselves to the U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR. UNHCR, then:
    • ​​Collects identifying documents
    • Performs initial assessment
      • Collects biodata: name, address, birthday, place of birth, etc.
      • Collects biometrics: iris scans (for Syrians, and other refugee populations in the Middle East)
    • Interviews applicants to confirm refugee status and the need for resettlement
      • Initial information checked again
    • Only applicants who are strong candidates for resettlement move forward (less than 1% of global refugee population).
  2. Applicants are received by a federally-funded Refugee Support Center (RSC):​​
    • Collects identifying documents
    • Creates an applicant file
    • Compiles information to conduct biographic security checks
  3. Biographic security checks start with enhanced interagency security checks

    Refugees are subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States.

    • ​​U.S. security agencies screen the candidate, including:

    • The screening looks for indicators, like:

      • Information that the individual is a security risk

      • Connections to known bad actors

      • Outstanding warrants/immigration or criminal violations

    • DHS conducts an enhanced review of Syrian cases, which may be referred to USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate for review. Research that is used by the interviewing officer informs lines of question related to the applicant’s eligibility and credibility.

  4. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/USCIS interview:

    • Interviews are conducted by USCIS Officers specially trained for interviews​​

    • Fingerprints are collected and submitted (biometric check)

    • Re-interviews can be conducted if fingerprint results or new information raises questions. If new biographic information is identified by USCIS at an interview, additional security checks on the information are conducted. USCIS may place a case on hold to do additional research or investigation. Otherwise, the process continues.

  5. Biometric security checks:

    • Applicant’s fingerprints are taken by U.S. government employees

      • Fingerprints are screened against the FBI’s biometric database.

      • Fingerprints are screened against the DHS biometric database, containing watch-list information and previous immigration encounters in the U.S. and overseas.

      • Fingerprints are screened against the U.S. Department of Defense biometric database, which includes fingerprint records captured in Iraq and other locations.

    • If not already halted, this is the end point for cases with security concerns. Otherwise, the process continues.

  6. Medical check:

    • The need for medical screening is determined​​

    • This is the end point for cases denied due to medical reasons. Refugees may be provided medical treatment for communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.

  7. Cultural orientation and assignment to domestic resettlement locations:

    • ​​Applicants complete cultural orientation classes.

    • An assessment is made by a U.S.-based non-governmental organization to determine the best resettlement location for the candidate(s). Considerations include:

    • A location is chosen.

  8. Travel:

    • ​​International Organization for Migration books travel

    • Prior to entry in the United States, applicants are subject to:

    • This is the end point for some applicants. Applicants who have no flags continue the process.

  9. U.S. Arrival:

    • ​​All refugees are required to apply for a green card within a year of their arrival to the United States, which triggers:

    • Refugees are woven into the rich fabric of American society!

‎Amy Pope is Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security

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Branded a traitor, Russian sports whistleblower hides abroad | Reuters

The sportswoman who blew the whistle on doping in Russian athletics is in hiding abroad, pursued by a barrage of criticism from former colleagues and officials at home who accuse her of betraying her country.Yulia Stepanova, an international runner who was herself suspended for doping offences, secretly recorded Russian coaches and athletes over almost two years describing how they used performance-enhancing drugs.The 29-year-old’s evidence formed a major part of an investigation that led to Russian athletes being suspended from international competition this month, triggering the deepest crisis in Russian sport since the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Source: Branded a traitor, Russian sports whistleblower hides abroad | Reuters

Doctor Tells Patient: No More Birth Control for You, I’m Catholic

Earlier this month Leslie Gauthier received a letter from her doctor stating that, as a “Catholic physician” the doctor would no longer prescribe birth control. Unfortunately, Ms. Gauthier’s experience is all too common. Medical providers, clinics, and hospitals across the country are substituting their personal or institutional beliefs for sound medical judgment and denying people medical care.

Putting Personal Beliefs Above Patient Care

In some ways, Ms. Gauthier’s situation could have been worse. At least her doctor let her know about the new restrictions before she came in for her appointment. People are often refused care only after they have arrived at a doctor’s office, a hospital, and even the pharmacy. Last year, a pediatrician refused to treat a newborn infant because her parents were lesbians. When Krista and Jami Contreras arrived at the pediatrician’s office with their six day old daughter, they were greeted, not by the doctor they had carefully selected and previously met, but another doctor. This doctor told them that their original pediatrician had “prayed on it” and decided she couldn’t care for their daughter.

birthcontrolpill_istock_000022609098_larIn April, two separate pharmacies refused to fill a prescription to treat Brittany Cartrett’s miscarriage. Another woman responded to Ms. Cartrett’s Facebook post about her experience and told a similar story. That woman ultimately chose to undergo a more invasive surgical procedure to complete her miscarriage rather than face additional humiliation at another pharmacy.

People refused care often don’t even know that there were other treatment options available. When Tamesha Means’ water broke after only 18 weeks of pregnancy, doctors at the Catholic-affiliated Mercy Health Partners hospital sent her home twice. The hospital told her there was nothing they could do, even though in these circumstances terminating the pregnancy would have been the safest course of treatment. There was virtually no chance that the pregnancy could continue and waiting merely placed Ms. Means’ health and life in jeopardy. Ms. Means was only offered care after she returned to the hospital a third time in extreme distress and with an infection. Even then, the hospital staff were in the process of discharging her she went into labor.

We Deserve Better

It’s becoming increasingly common for people to try to impose their own beliefs on others by refusing to provide services. Sometimes it’s the service they object to and sometimes it’s the people. It’s always discrimination and it’s always wrong. But medical providers, in particular, have an ethical and moral duty to treat their patients with dignity and respect and to provide appropriate and necessary medical care. Personal beliefs should not trump patients’ access to the care they need. 

New Ebola Case Confirmed In Liberia After 17 Weeks

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On September 3rd, and for the second time this year, Liberia was declared `Ebola-free’ after going 42 days  without a positive Ebola lab test.   They then entered a 90 day `period of heightened surveillance’ – which, if it passed without incident – would finally allow the country to declare their battle truly won.

Today, less than two weeks before that `probationary period’  was to end, we got the heart wrenching news that a new Ebola case has been confirmed near the capital city of Monrovia, reportedly a 10 year old boy.

Assuming these reports are correct, the process of contact tracing begins again, and the countdown clock gets set back to zero.  It also means there are still unidentified chains of infection in the region, and raises question anew about the convalescent shedding of the virus by recovered Ebola patients. 

Determining what risk exposures this child may have had, including travel and/or contacts with travelers, now becomes a top priority, along with monitoring his contacts and containing any further spread.

Getting to zero was never thought to be easy, but today’s announcement demonstrates how hard that goal is going to be to achieve.   This report from Reuters.

 

New case of Ebola found in Liberia – U.N. official

ACCRA

A new case of Ebola has been found in Liberia, a country declared free of the disease on Sept. 3, a senior United Nations official said on Friday.

The patient is a 10-year-old boy who lived in the Paynesville, a suburb east of the capital Monrovia, said the official, who declined to be named.

The case represents a setback for Liberia, which has seen more than 10,600 cases and 4,808 Ebola deaths since it was first announced in March, 2014, according to U.N. World Health Organisation figures.

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