The administration has established a "surge operation" in Jordan to process 10,000 Syrian refugees and get them to the United States by President Obama's deadline of September 30, according to a new report on the temporary processing center in Amman.

The report said that some 600 interviews are being conducted every day, suggesting that 36,000 refugees are being targeted for entry into the United States.



The Center for Immigration Studies on Friday reported on the first family to get cleared and enter the United States, landing in Kansas City last week. At the airport in Amman, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan gave them a welcome. From the CIS report:

U.S. ambassador Alice Wells, at the airport in Jordan to see the Al-Abboud family off, spoke to the media: "This family is the first family to depart after having been granted refugee status by our U.S. immigration officers during our three-month resettlement surge operation that began on February 1." The temporary processing center, she added, will run until April 28 and will process 10,000 refugees. It is part of "our effort to reach President Obama's directive to send 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States by September 30, 2016, while also ensuring that every refugee accepted by the United States has been thoroughly screened and vetted through our rigorous security process."

The report also quoted a U.S. official saying that Obama's goal of 10,000 refugees this year is "a floor and not a ceiling."

The full report is here.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com