The U.S. will reach its Syrian refugee goal on Monday

Syrian refugees in Illinois.
(Image credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)

On Monday, the United States will reach its goal of taking in 10,000 Syrian refugees as part of a yearlong resettlement program, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan announced Sunday.

Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, nearly five million Syrians have fled the country. Close to 660,000 live in Jordan, and several hundred refugees are leaving Jordan over the next 24 hours for resettlement in the U.S. Ambassador Alice Wells said refugees are "the most thoroughly screened category of travelers to the United States, and Syrian refugees are subject to even greater scrutiny."

The resettlement program focuses on the most vulnerable refugees, including those who are ill, targeted for violence, or experienced torture. One of those people is Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh, 49, a former construction worker from Homs who has heart problems. He told The Associated Press he feels "fear and joy, fear of the unknown and our new lives, but great joy for our children's lives and future." He is headed to San Diego with his wife and four children, including 14-year-old Mohammed, who said he is excited to go to school and wants to one day study medicine.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.