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REUTERS
WASHINGTON
One of the top US government officials working on refugee issues announced her impending retirement on Tuesday, and refugee advocates expressed concern about the fate of the country's resettlement program which faces mounting pressure from the Trump administration.
Barbara Strack, a career official and chief of the Refugee Affairs Division at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, did not specify when she will leave her post, but USCIS spokesman R. Carter Langston said it would be in January.
In a statement to Reuters, Strack said she was retiring because, given her birthday is on Tuesday, she had reached one of the benchmarks for federal retirement.
"It's something I've been planning towards for a long time, and it's not driven by policy considerations," Strack said."I will deeply miss the colleagues and friendships that I'm leaving behind, and the important mission of refugee resettlement. It's been a privilege to be part of this community for the last 12 years, working to make the US refugee resettlement program robust and secure."
Advocates expressed concern at the timing of Strack's retirement, saying it could further hamper US refugee admissions. It was unclear immediately who would replace her.
