Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
July 04, 2011

In remarks made in commemoration of the United Nation’s World Refugee Day June 20, Ambassador Johnny Young, executive director of Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the United States to maintain its role as a global leader in refugee protection. “Without U.S. leadership, the situation for the world’s 15 million refugees would be much worse,” Ambassador Young said. “We must remain committed to refugee protection and to the U.S. refugee program, which saves thousands of lives each year.” Ambassador Young expressed the support of the USCCB for the Refugee Protection Act, introduced in Congress in June. The proposed legislation would strengthen protections for refugees and asylum-seekers who find safe haven in the United States. The legislation would, among other things, eliminate the one-year filing deadline for aliens in the United States to apply for asylum, authorize the Secretary of State to designate certain vulnerable groups as eligible for expedited adjudication of refugees and facilitate the reunification of families who have been unnecessarily kept apart. “A large number of refugees rescued by our nation are themselves victims of terror and are in need of protection from such threats,” Ambassador Young concluded. “We can ensure the integrity of the U.S. refugee program without sacrificing its vitality and capacity.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Michael M. Pham of San Diego to head the diocese.
OSV NewsMay 22, 2025
Our country is not only in a constitutional crisis; we are in a biblical crisis.
Terence SweeneyMay 21, 2025
A Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinMay 21, 2025
Pope Leo XIV meets with Vice President JD Vance after the formal inauguration of his pontificate at the Vatican on May 18. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo I helped to ensure that Catholicism would outlast the Roman Empire. His name is a reminder that our faith rises above contemporary politics and temporal authority.