WASHINGTON—The Obama administration wants to help its allies across the Atlantic with an escalating migrant crisis, but is unlikely to open America’s doors to vast numbers of Syrian and other refugees arriving each day by the thousands in Europe.
While Germany braces for some 800,000 asylum seekers this year, many of whom are fleeing Syria’s civil war, the U.S. isn’t saying if it will increase its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000. Only a fraction of those would be Syrians, who must first navigate a multiyear application process before learning if they can start a new life in the United States.
When it comes to the current migrant challenge, the U.S. and Europe are clearly in different places. Whereas the United States is separated by an ocean from the Middle East and North Africa, Europe’s place adjacent to one of the world’s most volatile regions makes it an obvious destination for people fleeing war, persecution and poverty. And there are no gut-wrenching images of refugees drowning while trying to swim or smuggle their way across 3,000 miles of open sea.
Still, a spokesman for the National Security Council said Monday the U.S. was “actively considering” steps to alleviate the situation in Europe, where more than 340,000 people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia now have arrived. Beyond Syria, many are also fleeing parts of Iraq that are under the Islamic State group’s control.
The spokesman, Peter Boogaard, said the steps could include “refugee resettlement” and White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Tuesday said a “range of approaches” was being studied. But as for taking more Syrians and others in, Earnest said: “There is a process for doing this.”
That process, as it currently stands, is slow. Refugees wait around three years to find out if they can move to the United States, meaning Washington wouldn’t be able to offer quick assistance. Throughout Syria’s 4½-year civil war, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 Syrians — a tiny percentage of the 11.6 million people who have been chased out of the country or uprooted from their homes by the conflict.
On Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a “concerted global effort” to assist the refugees, in an interview with The Associated Press. Washington has spearheaded such efforts previously.
