Governor Ralph Northam says Virginia is open to refugees

In a letter to President Trump today, the governor says the commonwealth is welcoming of “refugees who are fleeing war, persecution, or other dire circumstances.”

His statement is in response to a federal Executive Order from President Trump signed in October 2019 which requires state governments to say whether or not refugees were accepted in those states, ordering the Department of “Health and Human Services shall develop and implement a process to determine whether the State and locality both consent, in writing, to the resettlement of refugees within the State and locality, before refugees are resettled within that State and locality under the program.”

If a state opts out of receiving refugees, they cannot be resettled there without the consolation of Health and Human Services and the Homeland Security departments.

Northam writes:

“Because of our proximity to Washington, D.C., we are a preferred location for many Special Immigrant Visa holders – Iraqi and Afghanistan refugees who provided services to the U.S. military in those countries, and whose lives and families are in danger because of that service.”

“In recent years, as the federal government has lowered the number of refugees accepted into the United States, so has Virginia’s refugee number dropped. We have the capacity to accept and help more refugees than we currently have.”

An order signed by the President in March 2017 ordered the Secretary of State to take on a broader role determining where refugees are resettled in the U.S., in an effort to prevent terrorists from entering the country.