San Diego Leaders Condemn President Trump's Immigration Order

Several hundred people protest the travel ban as a refugee agency has questions from recent families. This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. Our top story more protests are planned in San Diego against the executive order temporarily banning all refugees as well as citizens from seven Muslim nations from entering the U.S. between 800,000 protesters turned out yesterday objecting to the been. John has the story. It is one way to put it as the captain of United flight did last night. Between 800 to 1000 protesters turned out to object the ban on refugees from Muslim majority countries including Syria and Iran. They are yelling set them free. Homeland security is the agency that help people in transit. North of here in San Francisco they had a similar message. It is where 65-year-old woman was held this Saturday after President Trump's order took affect. Her daughter was in pits waiting to find out what happened to her mother. It has been such a nightmare. I am pregnant and I'm trying not to stress out as much. Officials released her mother hours later. She said she was lucky. Another woman on the airplane was immediately denied access and put on a flight back to Iran. That story from John. For more on reaction to the trouble been I spoke with David Murphy. Welcome to the program. Hello. Just last September they celebrated the resettlement of the 10,000 Syrian refugee in San Diego. Is San Diego what are the homes of the U.S. refugee resettlement network? Yes. They have resettled more than 1300 refugees from all around the world. Every year the U.S. has been bringing in between 70 and 110,000 refugees from all around the world. This has brought a nationwide and then here in San Diego, which is a very welcoming community, we take about for % of the total number of refugees. In 2016 be Reporter: Resettlement agencies that work here in San Diego brought in almost for thousand refugees from all around the world. The number one population was Iraqi fall about desk fallen by Syrian. So from these countries the entire seven countries that are in this action how many refugees were you are paring to receive in the coming months? Based upon a 110,000 refugee Mark that President Obama set we were planning on bringing in about for thousand refugees to San Diego this year. What will happen to those people now? With the new executive order, it drops that number from 110,000 to 50,000. So far this year the fiscal year, which begins October 1 the U.S. has brought in 32,000 refugees nationwide. That means that there's only about 18,000 refugees that will be admitted through the rest of the fiscal year. Do know what is going to happen to the people who thought they were going to be resettled here the U.S. in San Diego and now are not? There are more than 60,000 people overseas that of gone through the refugee security vetting process that are waiting to come to the United States and now they are all on hold. Some families have traveled to the United States and some families still have family members in the country of origin. This will split apart families and leaving a lot of people in limbo with very uncertain future. An attorney speaking to a gathering of refugees and City Heights yesterday who were concerned about family members trying to get into the U.S. advise them to look into resettling in other countries. Is that a viable option for refugees? There are more than 65 million people displaced in the world today. That number we have not seen since World War II. Continues to increase. Right now the other countries in the world that are planning to resettle refugees only a total of 350,000 refugees. It is the government of these countries that go out and identify the refugees for resettlement. Just because they want to be resettled to the United States or in other countries, it is up to the government of the United States to physically go out and identify the refugee that will be eligible for resettlement. Once a person has been identified, they go through a process of up to 2 to 3 years of in person interviews, background checks, skirted checks, all types of security vetting before they are eligible to come to the United States. So for the refugees that are in the pipeline other countries may pick them up and accept them because they Barty gone through the U.S. security process, which is the most difficult wait to come to the United States through the refugee program. You are the most security person to come to the U.S. The refugee program you are the most Thorley security bedded individual to come to the U.S. Congressman Darrell ISA -- Darrell Issa made a statement. We can put in place a process that the American people have confidence in. To do so they must work with the ministration to swiftly reestablish strong and clear screening procedures so that a rich tradition of immigration is not threatened by those who wish us harm. That was a statement from Darrell Issa. Do you see areas in which the screening of refugees can be improved? Since 9/11 have brought in more than 800,000 refugees. None have committed an act of terror on U.S. oil. An American is more likely to be killed from lightning than a terror attack. Post 9/11 the U.S. put in many new security measures again in 2011 there was another potential security risk. The U.S. government went back and continued to strengthen the process. Today the United States has the most thorough security vetting process for refugee to come to any country in the world. What kinds of questions have you been getting from the refugee community? We've had a huge outpouring of concern for refugees, migrants, immigrants, and local members. What does this mean for me? And Mike went to be deported? Refugees that come to the United States are totally legal to come and work here and travel and after one your they are eligible to get a green card and after five years are eligible for citizenship. So even refugees that have come here our U.S. citizens are still fearful that they are going to be deported. So it is breaking up families. There are huge concerns over what is going to happen to my remaining family members? What happens to my children that are here? Even though they are Americans, there is a lot of fear in the community. How are you responding to those concerns that they are expressing quick This executive order just happen on Friday so we saw over the weekend there were large demonstrations including here in San Diego with the airport. There are a number of planned demonstrations in the coming week to show support and solidarity for refugees. We are trying to give out the best information that we have. For example, if you are a refugee and have been here for one year, go get a green card. If you are a non-US citizen from another country but potentially a country that could be further impacted by another executive order a Muslim primarily a Muslim country that you should contact a legal advisor and immigration attorney to figure out what your status is. If you are a non-U.S. citizen from one of the seven countries that have been identified in this executive order, do not travel outside the United States because you probably will not be let in. Is the organization responding in any way to this band quick We have joined up with the ACLU and their are already lawsuits that have been filed. An amazing thing is the outpouring of support that we have received from a wide swath of the community. Not just from refugees or immigrants from across the spectrum of people wanting to show support and solidarity for refugees pick up I've been speaking with David Murphy. Thank you. Thank you very much. Coming up a study of sanctuary communities find lower crime rates and better economies. It is back 17 and you are listening to trying to. -- KPBS Midday Edition .