AMMAN, Jordan — The United States will reach its target this week of taking in 10,000 Syrian war refugees in a year-old resettlement program, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan said Sunday, after meeting families headed to California and Virginia.
The resettlement program has emerged as an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, with Republican nominee Donald Trump alleging displaced Syrians pose a potential security threat.
Alice Wells, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan, said Sunday that keeping Americans safe and taking in some of the world's most vulnerable people are not mutually exclusive.
"Refugees are the most thoroughly screened category of travelers to the United States, and Syrian refugees are subject to even greater scrutiny," she said.
Wells said the target of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States in the 2016 fiscal year will be reached today, as several hundred Syrians depart from Jordan over 24 hours.
The Jouriyeh family, which attended Sunday's short ceremony, is headed to San Diego.
Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh, 49, a former construction worker from the war-ravaged Syrian city of Homs, said 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 traveling with his wife, Rajaa, 42, and their four children.
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.