The Foreign Service Journal, March 2021

30 MARCH 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Address the Refugee Crisis and U.S. Visa Policy More than 80 million refugees and displaced persons inhabit our planet, and that number grows daily. The United States must regain its position as the leader in alleviating this crisis. Third-country resettlement can at best accommodate a small portion of these people, but the United States has shame- fully reduced the number of refugees we have welcomed to our shores. We should increase the number we are willing to accept to at least 100,000. More important than resettlement is the protection of vulner- able refugees living in appalling conditions, while inspiring other nations to do the same. The greatest challenge will be cajoling the “sending” countries to alleviate the factors that cause people to flee. That would mean fighting corruption, striving for good governance and promoting education, health and opportunities for people to make an honorable living in their home countries. The message from the new administration should include that refugees have historically contributed to the well-being of our nation enormously, and the programs we participate in abroad to make the sending countries less repressive contribute to our security and long-term economic growth. In the past we have worked closely with like-minded nations to resolve refugee crises, and should do so again. Support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Health Organization and other international entities long involved in this challenge is necessary. In addition, it is universally acknowledged that the existing U.S. visa regime needs a comprehensive overhaul. However, the following immediate fixes can be made without legislation: • Reinvigorate DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). • Remove the ethnic, religious and geographic limitations created by false claims that they strengthen national security. • End the crippling of our academic institutions and the richness of student life by returning to the student and exchange visitor visa policies of an earlier era. • Continue the statutory requirement that immigrants estab- lish that they will not become a public charge, but remove some of the factors recently added administratively to that calculation. • Strengthen the anti-fraud aspects of visa considerations to include increased, meaningful cooperation between State and Homeland Security officers involved in the process. Bruce Beardsley, a retired FSO in Naples, Florida, worked on refugee programs in Southeast Asia and the Balkans. Strengthen the OIG and Professional Education First, rebuild and fully staff the State Department Office of the Inspector General, which was marginalized under the Trump administration. In May 2020, State’s capable inspector general, in office since 2013, was fired. Since 2017, inspections of U.S. embassies overseas and bureaus in the department, for decades the core function of the State OIG, have been reduced to a minimum, their place largely taken by audits of ancillary functions (e.g., “Audit of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations Process To Execute Construction Closeout Procedures for Selected Capital Construction Projects,” 9/22/20). Second, relaunch the Senior Seminar and generally enhance the role of professional education for Foreign Service officers, as advocated by former Secretary of State George Shultz in his elo- quent commentary in the November 2020 Foreign Service Journal . “My sense is that incoming members of the U.S. Foreign Service should be required to participate in a full academic year of professional education at the National Foreign Affairs Train- ing Center. There might be a distinct part of the center that could be called ‘The School of Diplomacy.’ A diverse group of future American diplomats would benefit, I think, from the integrating effects of a common learning experience,” Secretary Shultz writes in the Journal . “That said,” Shultz continues, “there should also be separate courses in area studies and languages. The common program should include a feature pioneered by the now defunct Senior Seminar, a course that gave diplomats an introduction to various slices of American life. Personally, I would like to see the common course include case studies in diplomacy and many opportuni- ties for extended talks with senior American diplomats and with those of other nations, too. As a former teacher myself, of course I have an interest in curriculum, and so I would be pleased to meet with people who are giving serious thought to what is suitable for today’s realities.” Robert M. Beecroft of Bethesda, Maryland, is a retired FSO and former ambassador. Cap Political-Appointee Ambassadors Make a public commitment that 85 percent of all ambassadors will be chosen from the career Foreign Service. Randall Biggers is a retired FSO who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.