Cornyn, Padilla Disagree on Need to Change US Refugee Policy in Senate Hearing

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in Washington on Dec. 5, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) agree on a considerable portion of the official U.S. policy on refugees and resettlement, including that the procedure is rigorous and includes strong oversight of the applications of those seeking to be approved to stay in the country as refugees.

But the senators disagreed on changes to U.S. refugee policy in their introductory remarks at a Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing on March 22.

Padilla, who serves as the chair of the subcommittee, sees a need to modify the nation’s refugee laws and believes that the United States needs to play a bigger role in refugee resettlement.

Cornyn, the ranking member, views United States refugee law as working and not requiring major changes—even amidst the immigration crisis on the southern border and with the United States having problems tracking and apprehending those who have made it into the country illegally. He also contends that other countries need to do more to shoulder the responsibility of offering safe haven to refugees.

Opening Statements

“It’s our goal to have a productive discussion on the historic success of America’s refugee program, and what we can and should be doing to bolster the program going into the future,” said Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, in his opening statement.

Padilla described how refugees are a vital and fundamental component of America. He also mentioned how Democrats and Republicans have worked effectively together in the area of refugee law and policy.

He said that under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. refugee program was curtailed sharply, and while the Biden administration has made strides to return it to previous strength, more needs to be done.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) speaks in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

“The modern U.S. refugee program began with the Immigration and Nationality Act [enacted in 1952] and the Refugee Act of 1980, which together established a permanent basis for refugees to be resettled each year,” said Padilla. “In the 1980s and 1990s, the number of refugees admitted into the United States on an annual basis never really fell below 61,000, and in fact reached its highest level of 207,000 in 1980.”

In recent years, that number has fluctuated between 56,000 and 85,000, he said.

Padilla cited how those numbers headed precipitously downward in the Trump administration, with fewer than 12,000 refugees being resettled in his final year in office.

Cornyn heralded the nation’s commitment to refugees, and brought up work he had done about two years ago with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.),chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to hold a hearing in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety about how the United States could use its refugee policy to aid and back Hong Kong in its move toward democracy.

Cornyn added that he joined with several senators from both parties to advise the secretary of state to grant priority refugee status to the Uyghurs, a Chinese ethnic minority—most of whom are Muslim—persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.

Cornyn said there are about 1 million Uyghurs being held in concentration camps in China.

“America should continue its tradition of welcoming refugees and resettling those fleeing oppression. President Ronald Reagan in his first year in office stated, ‘More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage, in our capacity to welcome those from other lands,‘“ Cornyn said. “He went on, however, to say, ‘No free and prosperous nation by itself can accommodate all those who seek a better life or flee persecution. We must share this responsibility with other countries.’”