STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES ON AMERICA’S COMMITMENT TO REFUGEES
The world today is gripped by the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Some sixty million people - half of
them children - have fled persecution and violence, the highest number ever recorded. From Syria to Burma
to Eritrea, desperate people are seeking freedom from brutal regimes, lawless militias, and genocidal
terrorist groups. Thousands have died trying to find safety and millions are struggling to survive.
The United States has long been a refuge for those seeking safety and freedom, and for a simple
reason: Americans believe their compassion and openness are sources not of weakness but strength. The
demonstration of these qualities accords with the core ideals on which our nation was founded, and on
which our greatness rests. For more than two centuries, the idea of America has pulled toward our shores
those seeking liberty, and it has ensured that they arrive in the open arms of our citizens. That is why the
Statue of Liberty welcomes the world’s “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” and why President
Reagan stressed the United States as “a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all
the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness.”
Today there are many hurtling through that darkness.
Yet despite America’s role as the global leader in resettling refugees, many voices call for closed doors rather
than open arms. To give in to such impulses would represent a mistake of historic proportions. Now is the
time for the United States to reaffirm its commitment to protecting refugees.
Americans are rightly concerned not only for the security of refugees but their own as well. For this reason,
refugees are vetted more thoroughly than any other category of traveler seeking to arrive in the United
States. The security process includes screenings by national and international intelligence agencies,
fingerprint and other biometric data checks against terrorist and criminal databases, and multiple rounds of
interviews.
As we ensure the safety of our own citizens, we should recognize that refugees serve as a source of national
renewal. Fleeing horrors today, they will tomorrow emerge as patriotic citizens who give back to the country
that welcomed them in their time of desperation. And accepting refugees demonstrates, at a time when it is
so sorely needed, that America leads the world in marching toward a better future.
We believe:
The United States should provide refuge to those fleeing violence and persecution, consistent
with our nation’s founding ideals.
Accepting refugees, and encouraging other countries to do so, advances U.S. interests by
supporting the stability of our allies struggling to host large numbers on their own.
Welcoming refugees, regardless of their religion or race, exposes the falseness of terrorist
propaganda and counters the warped vision of extremists.
The United States must not abandon those targeted by terrorists because they worked with
American troops and diplomats in support of our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Religious bans and tests are un-American and have no place in our immigration and refugee
policies.
American leadership is essential in addressing the global refugee crisis.
Sincerely,
(Names in alphabetical order)
Madeleine K. Albright
Former Secretary of State
Stephen J. Hadley
Former National Security Advisor to
President George W. Bush
Leon E. Panetta
Former Secretary of Defense and
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
William J. Burns
Former Deputy Secretary of State
Chuck Hagel
Former Secretary of Defense and U.S.
Senator
William J. Perry
Former Secretary of Defense
Michael Chertoff
Former Secretary of Homeland
Security
General Michael V. Hayden, U.S. Air
Force, (Ret.)
Former Director, Central Intelligence
Agency
Thomas R. Pickering
Former Undersecretary of State for
Political Affairs
Derek Chollet
Former Assistant Secretary of
Defense for International Security
Affairs
Fred C. Hof
Former U.S. Ambassador & Special
Advisor for transition in Syria
Kori N. Schake
Former Deputy Director for Policy
Planning, U.S. State Department
Henry Cisneros
Former Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development
Robert Kagan
Co-Founder, Project for the New
American Century
Randy Scheunemann
Former Director, Project for the New
American Century
William S. Cohen
Former Secretary of Defense and U.S.
Senator
David J. Kramer
Former Assistant Secretary of State
for Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor
Eric Schwartz
Former Assistant Secretary of State
for Population, Refugees, and
Migration
Ryan C. Crocker
Former U.S. Ambassador to
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria,
Kuwait, and Lebanon
Mark Lagon
President, Freedom House
Former Ambassador at Large, Office
to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in
Persons
John Shattuck
Former Assistance Secretary of State
for Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor and U.S. Ambassador to Czech
Republic
Tom Daschle
Former U.S. Senator
Michael E. Leiter
Former Director, National
Counterterrorism Center
Admiral James G. Stavridis, U.S.
Navy (Ret.)
Former NATO Supreme Allied
Commander
Former Commander, U.S. Southern
Command
Michele A. Flournoy
Former Under Secretary of Defense
for Policy
Carl M. Levin
Former U.S. Senator
Frances F. Townsend
Former Homeland Security Advisor
to President George W. Bush
Richard Fontaine
President, Center for a New American
Security
General David M. Maddox, U.S.
Army (Ret.)
Former Commander in Chief, U.S.
Army Europe
Paul D. Wolfowitz
Former Deputy Secretary of Defense
Robert S. Ford
Former Ambassador to Syria and
Algeria
Matthew G. Olsen
Former Director, National
Counterterrorism Center
