The State Department is suspending refugee resettlement, at least temporarily, to the United States amid the coronavirus crisis.
On Tuesday, the United Nations’ Refugee Agency — which helps facilitate which refugees are admitted to the U.S. annually — announced that they would be suspending their end of refugee resettlement.
In a statement to Breitbart News, a State Department spokesperson said that a pause on refugee resettlement to the U.S. would take effect from March 19 through at least April 6. A spokesperson said:
Due to the [UN Refugee Agency’s] temporary suspension, we notified our implementing partners to expect a refugee arrivals pause from March 19 through April 6. We will work with our implementing partners to plan for a resumption of refugee arrivals on or after April 7.
Refugees are subject to the same COVID-19 travel restrictions as other travelers to the United States. The Department of State has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens.
The announcement comes as the State Department continued resettling nearly 2,500 refugees to all but seven states in the country between February 1 and March 15 — even while the nation’s leading medical experts said migration and travel from abroad were aiding in spreading the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.