Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh is a 49-year-old construction worker with heart ailments and four children to look after.

As if that wasn't difficult enough, he and his family were enmeshed in the destructive civil war that has left Syria in ruins and killed hundreds of thousands of their countrymen and women.

Now, they are getting a new lease on life.

The Jouriyehs are among the 10,000 refugees fleeing the smoldering Middle Eastern nation and resettling in the United States.

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Syrian refugee Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh, 49, speaks to reporters at the Amman, Jordan office of the International Organization for Migration

Forced to leave their hometown of Homs, Syria's third largest city and one which has been placed under siege for months, the Jouriyeh family made their way to Jordan.

On Monday, they will board a plane in Amman bound for the United States, as will hundreds of other Syrians who will round out the target of 10,000 refugees who will be resettled in the country.

When asked by The Associated Press about his sentiments just before beginning a new life in San Diego, Jouriyeh said he is filled with 'fear and joy, fear of the unknown and our new lives, but great joy for our children's lives and future.'

The resettlement program focuses on the most vulnerable refugees, including those who were subjected to violence or torture or are sick.

Close to 5 million Syrians have fled civil war since 2011. Most struggle to survive in tough conditions in neighboring countries, including Jordan, which hosts close to 660,000 Syrian refugees.

The intake of refugees from Syria has emerged as a hot-button issue during the US presidential campaign.

Jouriyeh (third from left), 49, is a construction worker who suffers from heart failure. He and his family are eager to start their new lives in San Diego

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has said that an anticipated flood of Syrian refugees admitted to the US by the Obama administration will bring with them a new wave of terror attacks unleashed by Islamist groups.

'Bad things will happen. A lot of bad things will happen. There will be attacks that you wouldn't believe, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting said on a podcast hosted by the National Border Patrol Council.

The Jouriyehs will travel 7,600 miles to their new home in San Diego, California

'There will be attacks by the people that are right now coming into our country, because – I have no doubt in my mind,' Trump predicted.

The Obama administration has committed that by the end of September it will resettle 10,000 Syrians in the United States following a lengthy vetting process overseen by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Their oldest son, 14-year-old Mohammed, said he is eager to sign up for school in San Diego and hopes to study medicine one day

That number will likely expand in 2017 unless Trump were to move into the Oval Office.

The administration, for its part, scoffs at the notion that its policy will put the country in danger.

Obama's top diplomat in Amman said this week that her country is fulfilling a longstanding tradition in opening its doors to the world's downtrodden.

Syrian refugees are subject to even greater scrutiny,' said Alice Wells, the US ambassador to Jordan

'Refugees are the most thoroughly screened category of travelers to the United States, and Syrian refugees are subject to even greater scrutiny,' said Alice Wells, the American ambassador to Jordan.