U.S. to Increase Number of Resettling Refugees by 5K Amid European Crisis

Officials say the United States is prepared to increase the number of refugees it resettles by 5,000 next year as European countries struggle to accommodate tens of thousands of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

Two officials and a congressional aide said that Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill Wednesday that the United States will boost its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000 to 75,000 next year. A fraction of those refugees would be from Syria.

Kerry said after the meeting that the United States would increase the number of refugees it is willing to take in but did not give a specific number.

The officials and the congressional aide spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private meeting on the record.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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