Bush Admin To Expand Iraqi Refugee Program For First Time Since War Began

AP ANNE GEARAN February 14, 2007 11:15 AM

The Bush administration plans to allow about 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the United States over the next year, a huge expansion at a time of mounting international pressure to help those who have fled in the nearly four-year-old war.

The United States has allowed only 463 Iraq refugees into the country since the war began, even though some 3.8 million have left. A senior State Department official described the expanded program on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement later Wednesday.

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