Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement

Executive Order 13888 of September 26, 2019

Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee
Resettlement

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Purpose. In resettling refugees into
American communities, it is the policy of the United
States to cooperate and consult with State and local
governments, to take into account the preferences of
State governments, and to provide a pathway for
refugees to become self-sufficient. These policies
support each other. Close cooperation with State and
local governments ensures that refugees are resettled
in communities that are eager and equipped to support
their successful integration into American society and
the labor force.

The Federal Government consults with State and local
governments not only to identify the best environments
for refugees, but also to be respectful of those
communities that may not be able to accommodate refugee
resettlement. State and local governments are best
positioned to know the resources and capacities they
may or may not have available to devote to sustainable
resettlement, which maximizes the likelihood refugees
placed in the area will become self-sufficient and free
from long-term dependence on public assistance. Some
States and localities, however, have viewed existing
consultation as insufficient, and there is a need for
closer coordination and a more clearly defined role for
State and local governments in the refugee resettlement
process. My Administration seeks to enhance these
consultations.

Section 6(d) of Executive Order 13780 of March 6, 2017
(Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry
into the United States), directed the Secretary of
State to determine the extent to which, consistent with
applicable law, State and local jurisdictions could
have greater involvement in the process of determining
the placement or resettlement of refugees in their
jurisdictions, and to devise a proposal to promote such
involvement.

I have consulted with the Secretary of State and
determined that, with limited exceptions, the Federal
Government, as an exercise of its broad discretion
concerning refugee placement accorded to it by the
Constitution and the Immigration and Nationality Act,
should resettle refugees only in those jurisdictions in
which both the State and local governments have
consented to receive refugees under the Department of
State's Reception and Placement Program (Program).

Sec. 2. Consent of States and Localities to the
Placement of Refugees. (a) Within 90 days of the date
of this order, the Secretary of State and the Secretary
of Health and Human Services shall develop and
implement a process to determine whether the State and
locality both consent, in writing, to the resettlement
of refugees within the State and locality, before
refugees are resettled within that State and locality
under the Program. The Secretary of State shall
publicly release any written consents of States and
localities to resettlement of refugees.

    (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the
Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall develop and implement a process by
which, consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(2)(D), the
State and the locality's consent to the resettlement of
refugees under the Program

is taken into account to the maximum extent consistent
with law. In particular, that process shall provide
that, if either a State or locality has not provided
consent to receive refugees under the Program, then
refugees should not be resettled within that State or
locality unless the Secretary of State concludes,
following consultation with the Secretary of Health and
Human Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security,
that failing to resettle refugees within that State or
locality would be inconsistent with the policies and
strategies established under 8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(2)(B) and
(C) or other applicable law. If the Secretary of State
intends to provide for the resettlement of refugees in
a State or locality that has not provided consent, then
the Secretary shall notify the President of such
decision, along with the reasons for the decision,
before proceeding.
    (c) Subsection (b) of this section shall not apply
to the resettlement of a refugee's spouse or child
following to join that refugee pursuant to 8 U.S.C.
1157(c)(2)(A).

Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    September 26, 2019.