Dear Friend,

In a piece that featured our case and is linked below, Newsy reported earlier this week that the State Department announced that for the first time ever, the U.S. has established a refugee admissions allocation designated specifically for U.S.-affiliated Iraqis. While the overall ceiling on refugee admissions for 2020 is 18,000 and the lowest ever set by the State Department, more than 20% could come from Iraq. Four thousand spots have been set aside for Iraqi refugees to include translators who worked for the U.S. military and their families.

This could be huge news for our case.

If the ceiling of 4,000 were met, this would reflect a complete shift in how the administration has handled refugee admissions from Iraq. The number of US-affiliated Iraqi refugees admitted into our country, for example, has been at all-time low.

While this news does give us hope, we are cautious in our optimism, realizing that this allocation does not mean the slots will be filled. The piece points out that many immigration experts remain skeptical that the new allocation will help at all.

Our case involves a family that has sacrificed everything for our country and was conditionally approved for resettlement almost two and a half years ago. There are about 100,000 U.S.-affiliated Iraqis backlogged seeking refuge, but this family’s case stands out. The case is almost a decade old and is one of the most highly visible to U.S. immigration agencies, largely due to your support.

We will continue to do everything we can to ensure our country keeps its promise to this family. Thank you staying in the fight with us.

Pete