the US refugee resettlement system has
been operational and active since 1948
men women and children from all parts of
the globe had been resettled to this
great land of opportunity through this
program according to the refugee
processing center which is the State
Department agency that monitors
resettlement since 1975 more than 3.3
million new Americans have been added to
our population through this program
prior to the Syrian refugee crisis this
program was unknown in the public sphere
it started to get attention when the
image of Alan Cody took the world by
storm the image of a lifeless boy
facedown dead on a beach in Turkey he
drowned
seeking refuge this prompted a global
call to action and people looked to the
US to take in more refugees through
their resettlement program but many
Americans led by our current president
started to criticize the system for
being a security threat and a financial
burden let’s put aside the fact that we
are talking about human beings here
let’s put aside the moral justification
let’s put aside the fact that these are
vulnerable desperate stateless people
let’s ignore that for a moment
and let’s do the numbers because that’s
what people seem to understand as of yet
there is no comprehensive clear and
precise way to measure the exact cost
and the exact value of the refugee
resettlement system on the national
level however there is enough data and
research to conduct a basic analysis
let’s take two
thousand 14 as an example in 2014 The
Washington Post reported that the Office
of refugee resettlement the agency that
provides resettlement in this country
spent about five hundred and eighty two
million dollars to resettle 70,000
refugees let’s tag on another seventy
million dollars and make it six hundred
and fifty four cost that may not be
included such as travel the it cost the
US government six hundred and fifty
million dollars to increase our
population by seven thousand in 2014
federal expenditure was three point two
three trillion dollars refugee
resettlement as a percentage zero point
zero zero zero two percent if every
American citizen or every American in
this country at the time which was three
hundred and eighteen million dollars
contributed to this program it would
cost each American two dollars and five
cents but every American is not a
taxpaying citizen in 2014 there were
approximately 139 taxpaying citizens the
average tax bill was nine thousand eight
hundred and fifty six dollars of that
four dollars and sixty seven cents went
to the u.s. refugee resettlement program
so for four dollars and sixty seven
cents per taxpaying citizen we increased
our population by seventy thousand
roughly half of the 70,000 were children
the other half were men and women
skilled and unskilled that at some point
were joined joined the labor force we
looked at the cost which is great what
about the value let’s look at a real
exam
Erie Pennsylvania a small town of a
hundred thousand a manufacturing company
called sterling technologies has many
well-paying jobs available but they’re
struggling to fill them why the
applicants don’t seem to can’t seem to
pass a drug test there’s a drug epidemic
in that city so they have all these jobs
and no one to fill them so they reached
out to the refugee resettlement
organizations in the area and started
hiring some of them quickly resettled
refugees became a majority of their
workforce Erie Pennsylvania and the
senior management of this company all
voted for the current administration but
they oppose any ban or reduction in
refugee resettlement they because they
have seen the financial benefit of it
firsthand this is taking place across
the country from Utica New York to
Louisville Kentucky employers are seeing
and realizing that we have an entire
population entering the workforce that
has a strong work ethic which makes them
a valuable part of the workforce a
little known fact about the u.s. refugee
resettlement system every resembled
refugee has to pay back the US
government the cost of the airfare to
get here every single one of them and
the State Department reports that since
nineteen eighty eight hundred and
seventy-six million dollars has been
paid back to this day every single month
resettled refugees are paying the
government back a Department of Health
and Human Services report estimated that
between 2005 and 2014 the fiscal benefit
of the US refugee resettlement program
was a net sixty three billion dollars on
this economy
the current administration as expected
quickly dismissed that report to be
illegitimate and politically motivated
but I want us to pause for a moment and
see the situation we find ourselves in
today we the United States of America
the most prosperous and powerful nation
on earth are looking at the most
helpless people on earth and telling
them what’s in it for me
how do I benefit from giving you
security a basic human right this cannot
be our moral standard this is
contradictory to the values that we’ve
clearly stated give me your tired your
poor the huddled masses yearning to
breathe free the refugee resettlement
program by no means is perfect it needs
a lot of improvement and it is vastly
more complicated than simple math but
the u.s. refugee resettlement program is
enriching our country it is not a burden
it is one heck of a bargain it is a
bargain which is adding to the diversity
of our population contributing to our
economic future and helping us fulfill
our moral responsibility as a people we
must support the program we must work to
improve it and we must do everything in
our power to expand it thank you
[Applause]
been operational and active since 1948
men women and children from all parts of
the globe had been resettled to this
great land of opportunity through this
program according to the refugee
processing center which is the State
Department agency that monitors
resettlement since 1975 more than 3.3
million new Americans have been added to
our population through this program
prior to the Syrian refugee crisis this
program was unknown in the public sphere
it started to get attention when the
image of Alan Cody took the world by
storm the image of a lifeless boy
facedown dead on a beach in Turkey he
drowned
seeking refuge this prompted a global
call to action and people looked to the
US to take in more refugees through
their resettlement program but many
Americans led by our current president
started to criticize the system for
being a security threat and a financial
burden let’s put aside the fact that we
are talking about human beings here
let’s put aside the moral justification
let’s put aside the fact that these are
vulnerable desperate stateless people
let’s ignore that for a moment
and let’s do the numbers because that’s
what people seem to understand as of yet
there is no comprehensive clear and
precise way to measure the exact cost
and the exact value of the refugee
resettlement system on the national
level however there is enough data and
research to conduct a basic analysis
let’s take two
thousand 14 as an example in 2014 The
Washington Post reported that the Office
of refugee resettlement the agency that
provides resettlement in this country
spent about five hundred and eighty two
million dollars to resettle 70,000
refugees let’s tag on another seventy
million dollars and make it six hundred
and fifty four cost that may not be
included such as travel the it cost the
US government six hundred and fifty
million dollars to increase our
population by seven thousand in 2014
federal expenditure was three point two
three trillion dollars refugee
resettlement as a percentage zero point
zero zero zero two percent if every
American citizen or every American in
this country at the time which was three
hundred and eighteen million dollars
contributed to this program it would
cost each American two dollars and five
cents but every American is not a
taxpaying citizen in 2014 there were
approximately 139 taxpaying citizens the
average tax bill was nine thousand eight
hundred and fifty six dollars of that
four dollars and sixty seven cents went
to the u.s. refugee resettlement program
so for four dollars and sixty seven
cents per taxpaying citizen we increased
our population by seventy thousand
roughly half of the 70,000 were children
the other half were men and women
skilled and unskilled that at some point
were joined joined the labor force we
looked at the cost which is great what
about the value let’s look at a real
exam
Erie Pennsylvania a small town of a
hundred thousand a manufacturing company
called sterling technologies has many
well-paying jobs available but they’re
struggling to fill them why the
applicants don’t seem to can’t seem to
pass a drug test there’s a drug epidemic
in that city so they have all these jobs
and no one to fill them so they reached
out to the refugee resettlement
organizations in the area and started
hiring some of them quickly resettled
refugees became a majority of their
workforce Erie Pennsylvania and the
senior management of this company all
voted for the current administration but
they oppose any ban or reduction in
refugee resettlement they because they
have seen the financial benefit of it
firsthand this is taking place across
the country from Utica New York to
Louisville Kentucky employers are seeing
and realizing that we have an entire
population entering the workforce that
has a strong work ethic which makes them
a valuable part of the workforce a
little known fact about the u.s. refugee
resettlement system every resembled
refugee has to pay back the US
government the cost of the airfare to
get here every single one of them and
the State Department reports that since
nineteen eighty eight hundred and
seventy-six million dollars has been
paid back to this day every single month
resettled refugees are paying the
government back a Department of Health
and Human Services report estimated that
between 2005 and 2014 the fiscal benefit
of the US refugee resettlement program
was a net sixty three billion dollars on
this economy
the current administration as expected
quickly dismissed that report to be
illegitimate and politically motivated
but I want us to pause for a moment and
see the situation we find ourselves in
today we the United States of America
the most prosperous and powerful nation
on earth are looking at the most
helpless people on earth and telling
them what’s in it for me
how do I benefit from giving you
security a basic human right this cannot
be our moral standard this is
contradictory to the values that we’ve
clearly stated give me your tired your
poor the huddled masses yearning to
breathe free the refugee resettlement
program by no means is perfect it needs
a lot of improvement and it is vastly
more complicated than simple math but
the u.s. refugee resettlement program is
enriching our country it is not a burden
it is one heck of a bargain it is a
bargain which is adding to the diversity
of our population contributing to our
economic future and helping us fulfill
our moral responsibility as a people we
must support the program we must work to
improve it and we must do everything in
our power to expand it thank you
[Applause]
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