US officials not yet authorized to screen Pacific refugees

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian official says U.S. security officers have yet to be authorized by President Donald Trump’s administration to screen refugees held on Pacific islands for potential resettlement in the United States.

Trump has reluctantly agreed to honor an Obama administration deal to accept up to 1,250 refugees refused entry into Australia, but has said they will be subjected to “extreme vetting.” Australia pays Nauru and Papua New Guinea to keep more than 2,000 asylum seekers.

Mike Pezzullo, secretary of Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection, told a Senate committee on Monday that U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers were poised to start screening refugees on the islands as soon as they were authorized.

Pezzullo says he is confident there will be “movement within the next few, several months.”