The dropoff is expected because Clinton’s allocation includes slots for 20,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union, down from 23,000 this year.
The overall increase is primarily due to refugees from the war in Kosovo. Also, those fleeing Africa and Afghanistan will receive more slots.
“We are pleased that the administration has reversed the decline in total admissions,” said Leonard Glickman, executive vice president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which oversees Jewish communal refugee programs. “It has been a long time in coming,”
Since the 1999 fiscal year began last October, more than 6,100 Jews have come to the United States, mostly from the former Soviet Union, according to Glickman.
While HIAS hailed Clinton’s decision, the United Jewish Communities criticized the move as “too little.”
“We are extremely disappointed that the refugee numbers are as low as they are, even as we applaud the administration’s response on Kosovo,” said Diana Aviv, vice president for public policy for the UJC, the umbrella fund-raising and social service organization of the Jewish community.
Aviv cited a 40 percent drop in refugees allowed to come to the United States during the last six years.
“The problem with this administration is that the rhetoric and action has not matched,” she said.
Now that Clinton has set the refugee ceiling, the Jewish community’s focus has shifted to Capitol Hill, where Congress is expected to provide funding for refugee programs.
At the same time, HIAS and UJC are working to extend the soon-to-expire Lautenberg Amendment, under which the historic persecution of Jews in the former Soviet Union is taken into account in the application process for refugee status. It is due to expire at the end of September.
Unlike other immigrants, refugees who are deemed to be fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution are eligible for a host of welfare benefits.