US Withdraws from New York Declaration, Vows to Put America First
On December 2 the Trump administration announced that is has withdrawn the United States from a United Nations migration compact, which it deemed “inconsistent” with America’s interests and policy objectives.
America’s UN delegation had this to say:
Today, the US Mission to the United Nations informed the UN Secretary-General that the United States is ending its participation in the Global Compact on Migration. . .
The New York Declaration contains numerous provisions that are inconsistent with US immigration and refugee policies and the Trump Administration’s immigration principles. As a result, President Trump determined that the United States would end its participation in the Compact process that aims to reach international consensus at the UN in 2018.
America agreed to the terms of the New York Declaration under President Obama in September 2016. The Declaration was a nonbinding agreement in which nations pledged to uphold the rights of refugees, help them to resettle, and ensure that they have access to education and jobs.
Of course, the burden of this agreement fell disproportionately on America—as with all UN initiatives. As you can see in the graphic below, over the last two years the US has accepted the lion’s share of refugees, relative to other Western countries. Nations like Turkey or Jordan were excluded from the statistics to make the comparison relevant.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley stressed that the decision was not made with malicious intentions, but was motivated by the need to put Americans first:
America is proud of our immigrant heritage and long-standing leadership” on supporting migrants and refugees. No country has done more than the United States, and our generosity will continue. But our decisions on immigration policies must always be made by Americans and Americans alone.
We will decide how best to control our borders and who will be allowed to enter our country. The global approach in the New York Declaration is simply not compatible with US sovereignty.
This decision was not completely unexpected, as the liberal media portrays it. Under President Trump refugee admissions have already dropped by 87 percent on a quarter-by-quarter comparison relative to last year.
Likewise, the composition of refugees has changed dramatically: under President Obama the majority of refugees were Muslim, under Trump the majority of refugees are Christian. This is welcome news: Christian refugees from the Middle East are not only in far more danger (they are often killed in the refugee camps themselves), but they are also far more likely to assimilate into American life, which is predominantly Christian.
Trump’s refugee policies are profoundly sensible, and this decision is likely in America’s best interests.
