Recognizing World Refugee Day
Floor Speech
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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize World Refugee Day, which takes place on June 20 of each year, where we recognize the strength and resilience of those who have been displaced from their homes because of war or persecution.
On July 28, 2026, we will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the landmark international agreement that defined the term ``refugee'' as an individual who has been forced to flee their home country and is unable to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group and/or political opinion. The Convention also established the principle that nations should not forcibly return people to situations where they face harm.
Today, there are an estimated 117 million displaced people who had been forced from their homes worldwide, including more than 41.6 million refugees (over 30 percent of whom are children) and 9 million asylum seekers. Fewer than 1 percent of refugees are ever resettled.
Sadly, as we celebrate this day, the number of refugees globally is only increasing. It has been estimated that about 2.4 million refugees worldwide will require resettlement in 2027 because they remain at risk in the countries where they currently live and cannot safely return home. I recently had one young woman come into my office who lived 17 years in a refugee camp. She grew up with such uncertainty but now has been resettled in our country and ready to contribute to our society and community.
My home state of Wisconsin has benefitted from refugees. This includes the Hmong who fought as our allies during the Vietnam era and who fled persecution and death to come to the United States as refugees to start a new life after the war. What would have happened to them if our Nation closed its doors?
But it is not just the Hmong. Wisconsin has opened its doors to our neighbors from many other countries. Since 1975, Wisconsin has provided a home to over 50 different groups of refugees who have contributed to our communities in all sorts of ways from cultural to economical. Refugees help Wisconsin's economy by actively participating in the workforce, paying taxes, starting businesses, buying homes, and becoming U.S. citizens.
Yet, as we commemorate World Refugee Day, refugees remain under siege.
The Trump administration is going after refugees and asylum seekers even though refugees are one of the most closely scrutinized and vetted groups that come to our country.
Yet, the Trump Administration has put a needless and harmful pause on the U.S. refugee program. A pause that is nearing two years for many individuals who have already lived decades in limbo. That decision canceled flights oversight for who were hours away from being able to finally rebuild their lives in our Nation. And that is just one of many actions that have effectively closed our Nation's doors to most refugees.
These policies do not make our Nation any safer and put at risk the lives and well-being of refugees fleeing violence and persecution, including Iranians, Afghans, Burmese Rohingya, Sudanese and Somalis, among many others.
Refugees contribute greatly to our communities. Our own laws, such as the Refugee Act of 1980, recognize the historic policy of the United States to respond to the urgent needs of persons subject to persecution in their homelands, including, where appropriate, humanitarian assistance for their care and maintenance, efforts to promote opportunities for resettlement or voluntary repatriation, admission to this country of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States, and transitional assistance to refugees in the United States.
On this World Refugee Day, let us recommit to keep supporting the safety, health, and well being of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war, persecution, or torture and welcome them, not turn a blind eye.
The search for protection, peace, hope, and religious and political freedom is what spawned our own Nation whose 250th birthday we will soon be celebrating.
As we celebrate World Refugee Day this year, let us honor the strength of those who have been forced to flee their homes with no safe way back and support a future where everyone is given the opportunity to thrive, no matter where they come from.
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