Maryland will continue to accept refugees, Gov. Larry Hogan told the White House earlier this week via a formal letter.
Monday’s letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was a response to President Donald Trump’s Sept. 26 executive order that gave jurisdictions a Jan. 21 deadline to indicate their plans.
The Trump administration has limited the number of refugees who will be taken in during Fiscal Year 2020 to 18,000. Contrast that to the ceiling of 85,000 in the last full year of the Obama administration.
That White House order emphasized the importance of refugees being resettled in communities “eager and equipped to support their successful integration into American society and the labor force.”
In his letter, Hogan told the White House that acceptance applied to those who are “properly and legally seeking refugee status,” and who have been vetted.
“Maryland’s approach is consistent with both our laws and our values,” he wrote.
Hogan joins nearly 40 other governors in saying they’ll continue to welcome refugees, according to the World Relief Organization.
