A letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the nomination of Ronald Mortensen for Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration.

1. April 24, 2019
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators,
We write today to express our concern about the nomination of Ronald Mortensen to serve as Assistant
Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration. We believe that the confirmation of Mr.
Mortensen would undermine America’s global leadership on refugee issues, leadership that has been
supported for decades by Members of Congress from both sides of the political aisle. Mortensen’s
confirmation would be yet another step in the wrong direction.
Mr. Mortensen’s past writings on migration issues are alarming. Mr. Mortensen’s body of work
concentrates on attacking immigrants and should disqualify him for a position that is tasked with
demonstrating empathy and providing protection and aid to those most in need around the world. His
writings reveal a callous approach to the most vulnerable.
It is also notable that instead of policy proposals that bridge gaps--a skill set required for the position for
which he is nominated--Mr. Mortensen has attacked individuals who disagree with his radical positions
on immigration. In 2014 he accused the late Senator John McCain of “providing ISIS with unfettered
access to the United States.” He called Senator Marco Rubio “exceptionally gullible or just plain
dishonest” with regard to his immigration reform legislation. In 2013, Mortensen accused Grover
Norquist, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Jeff Flake, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of pandering to
Hispanics in their support of immigration reform measures. Mr. Mortensen has also taken aim at
evangelical leaders and leaders of the Mormon church for embracing an approach that treats migrants
throughout the world with human dignity. Mr. Mortensen’s views are so extreme that Governor Gary
Herbert of Utah--Mortensen’s home state--informed the White House when he was first nominated that
he does not support this nomination. Mr. Mortensen has shown himself to be undiplomatic in dealing
with those who disagree with him on matters of migration policy, which makes him unqualified to serve
as the nation’s top diplomat on refugee and migration issues
Mr. Mortensen’s confirmation would hasten the radical departure from U.S. leadership on refugee
issues. As reflected in the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 and the Refugee Act of 1980,
there has been strong and bipartisan support for many decades for both refugee assistance and refugee
resettlement. Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush to Barack Obama
have endorsed these principles. President Reagan stated that “We shall continue America's tradition as
a land that welcomes peoples from other countries. We shall also, with other countries, continue to
share in the responsibility of welcoming and resettling those who flee oppression.” We are deeply
concerned about recent efforts by the President to slash international humanitarian assistance, to

2. dramatically restrict refugee admissions, and to impose unreasonable burdens on the asylum process
that threaten the well-being of families and those in need of protection.
On World Refugee Day 2018, Refugees International gave the Trump Administration an F in their annual
report card, stating: “President Trump has… unreasonably denied life saving humanitarian assistance to
vulnerable communities, and has failed to assume a strong leadership role in humanitarian crisis
prevention and response.” Reversing these trends must be a top priority for U.S. foreign policy, but Mr.
Mortensen’s statements indicate he will simply continue the United States on this very different and
dangerous path.
We urge this committee to reject this nomination. Core values of the United States are under threat
and Mr. Mortensen’s confirmation would undermine America’s role in the world.
We appreciate your consideration of our concerns.
Sincerely,
Wa'el Alzayat
Former Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Ambassdor
to the United Nations
Mari Carmen Aponte (Ret.)
Former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for
Western Hemisphere
Robert L. Barry
Former Ambassador to Bulgaria; Former
Ambassador to Indonesia
Robert M. Beecroft
Ambassador and Head of Mission, OSCE Mission to
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alexandra Bell
Former Senior Advisor, U.S. State Department
Jack R. Binns
Former Ambassador to Honduras
Peter Boogaard
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of
Homeland Security
Hon. Eric J. Boswell
Former Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security
James (Wally) Brewster (Ret.)
Former Ambassador to the Dominican Republic
Sue K. Brown
Former Ambassador to Montenegro
George Bruno
Former Ambassador to Belize; Senior Pentagon
Executive, US Army
Shaun Casey
Former Special Representative for Religion and
Global Affairs, U.S. State Department
Ben Chang
Former National Security Council; Former Foreign
Service Officer
Phillip T. Chicola (Ret.)
Minister Counselor
Derek Chollet
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for
International Security Affairs
Daniel A. Clune
Former Ambassador to Laos
Elinor Constable
Former Ambassador to Kenya; Former Assistant
Secretary of State
James Costos
Former Ambassador to Spain and Andorra

3. Thomas M. Countryman
Former Assistant Secretary of State for International
Security and Nonproliferation
Chester Crocker
Former Assistant Secretary of African Affairs for the
U.S. State Department
Carolyn Curiel
Former Ambassador to Belize
James Dinneen
Former Department of Homeland Security Acting
Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector
David A. Duckenfield
Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public
Affairs for the U.S. State Department
David J. Dunford
Former Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman
William C. Eacho
Former Ambassador to Austria
Joseph Eldridge
Former Chaplain, American University
Gregory W. Engle
Former Ambassador to the Togolese Republic
Mieke Eoyang
VP for National Security, Third Way
John D. Feeley (Ret.)
Former Ambassador to Panama
Gerald M. Feierstein
Former Ambassador to Yemen
Jon Finer
Former U.S. State Department Chief of Staff and
Director of Policy Planning
Bishop Garrison
Former Adviser, Department of Homeland Security;
Former Special Assistant and White House Liaison,
DoD and VA; Former Deputy Foreign Policy Adviser
for Hillary for America
Rufus Gifford
Former Ambassador to Denmark
Gordon Gray
Former Ambassador to Tunisia
William H. Hill
Former Head of OSCE Mission to Moldova
Cindy Huang
Former Director of Policy, Bureau of Conflict and
Stabilization Operations, U.S. State Department
Shin Inouye
Former Press Secretary and Acting Senior Advisory,
Department of Homeland Security
Jonathan Katz
Former Deputy Assistant Administrator, Europe and
Eurasia Bureau, USAID
Ian Kelly
Ambassador to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe; Ambassador to Georgia
David Kim
Former U.S. State Department
Caitlin Klevorick
Former Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary
S.Y. Lee
Former Deputy Press Secretary, Department of
Homeland Security
Carmen Lomellin
Former Ambassador to the OAS
Kelly E. Magsamen
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs
Tom Malinowski
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor
Niels Marquardt
Former Ambassador to Cameroon, Equatorial
Guinea, Madagascar, and the Comoros
James D. Nealon
Former Ambassador to Honduras; Former Assistant
Secretary of Homeland Security for International
Affairs
Tom Nides
Former Deputy Secretary of State for Management
and Resources

4. Thomas Niles
Ambassador to Canada; Ambassador to the EU;
Ambassador to Greece; Assistant Secretary of State
for Europe and Canada
Maria Otero
Former U/S of State for Civilian Security, Democracy
and Human Rights
Laurence Pope
Former Ambassador to Chad; USCENTCOM Political
Advisor
Jo Ellen Powell (Ret.)
Former Ambassador to Mauritania; Former Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Human
Resources, U.S. State Department
Jeff Prescott
Former Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice
President; Former National Security Council Senior
Director
Ned Price
Former Special Assistant to President Obama
Jon R. Purnell
Former U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Anne C. Richard
Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; Former
Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and
Migration
Laura M. Rosenberger
Former Chief of Staff, Deputy Secretary of State
Loren DeJonge Schulman
Former National Security Advisor
Eric Schwartz
Former Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees
and Migration
Theodore Sedgwick (Ret.)
Former Ambassador to Slovakia
Dana Shell Smith
Former Ambassador to the State of Qatar
Alan Solomont
Former Ambassador to Spain and Andorra
Chris Stelmarski
Former Department of Homeland Security Director of
Digital Strategy
Stephanie Sutton
Former Chief of Staff, Bureau of International
Information Programs
Katrina Lantos Swett
President, Lantos Foundation; Former Chair of
USCIRF
Harry K. Thomas, Jr
Former Ambassador to the Philippines, Bangladesh
and Zimbabwe
Colin Thomas-Jensen
Former Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador
to the United Nations
Melanne Verveer
Former Ambassador for Global Women's Issues
David E. Wade
Former Chief of Staff, U.S. State Department; State
Department Foreign Affairs Policy Board
Barry B. White (Ret.)
Former Ambassador to Norway
Catherine Anne Wiesner
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. State
Department Bureau for Population, Refugees, and
Migration
Doug Wilson
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public
Affairs
Uzra Zeya
Former Acting Assistant Secretary for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor