WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Congressman Lance Gooden (R-TX), joined by Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Bill Posey (R-FL), and Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), sent a letter to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations demanding information related to the Refugee Travel Loan program and the potential misuse of taxpayer funds to encourage mass migration to the United States.
 
Rep. Gooden said“The Refugee Travel Loan program is ripe for abuse, and the organizations in charge of collecting these loans have made millions encouraging mass migration to the United States. The Biden Administration and United Nations must come clean with the American people. Taxpayer dollars should not be funneled through international organizations to incentivize mass migration to our country.”
 
Additionally, the letter requests the United Nations’ International Office of Migration retain all records related to the Refugee Travel Loan program so Congress may use them in future investigations.
 
Background: The U.S. Department of State, via the United Nations’ International Office of Migration (IOM), provides loans to refugees that are subsequently collected by non-profit organizations acting as resettlement agencies. These non-profits are then permitted to keep 25% of the loans they recoup, giving these organizations a financial interest in the number of refugees brought into the United States. This creates an obvious conflict of interest for organizations advocating for the Biden Administration to lift the refugee admissions cap.
 
Gooden sent a letter to the U.S. Department of State in December of last year and has yet to receive a response. 
 
You can read the full text of the letter to the United Nations here.