Trump administration to slash admission of refugees fleeing war, violence and persecution
WASHINGTON –The Trump administration said Thursday it will reduce the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States to a historic low – permitting no more than 18,000 people fleeing war, violence and persecution across the globe to make a new home in America.
The administration also plans to change the way refugee slots are divvied up and only allow resettlement in communities that "consent" to take them, a controversial change that critics said could spur resentment against refugees and the local officials who welcome them.
The refugee policy changes mark another effort by President Donald Trump to restrict immigration, even legal entry through a program that has long enjoyed bipartisan support. The refugee program is separate from those who seek asylum in the U.S., which Trump has also been trying to restrict.
The State Department called the new proposal a realistic cap that reflects an "overburdened" immigration system, while still upholding America's legacy of welcoming the world's most vulnerable people.
The president is required to set the cap in consultation with Congress. It's not clear if lawmakers will push back on the move.
Under the new policy, 5,000 of the 18,000 refugee slots would be reserved for those fleeing religious persecution. Another 4,000 would go to Iraqis who served as translators or in other roles for the U.S., and 1,500 would be given to Central Americans fleeing violence and other problems in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
In previous years, the U.S. admitted refugees based solely on geographic categories.
A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said Trump would also sign an executive order that would direct refugees to be resettled only in communities that "consent" to receive them.
Critics said that would spur a backlash against state and local officials who welcome refugees into their communities.
"By trying to cut the maximum number of refugees to its lowest number ever and empowering xenophobic state and local authorities to block refugees, Donald Trump is continuing his pattern of racist policies," said Nicole Regalado, campaign director of CREDO Action, a progressive activist group.
The administration official defended the change. "This is about setting up newly arrived refugees to succeed," he said. It will ensure that "refugees are placed in communities that are eager and equipped to support this successful integration into American society."
In addition to the 18,000 refugees, the U.S. anticipates receiving more than 350,000 individuals in new asylum cases in 2020, the State Department said.
"At the core of the Trump Administration’s foreign policy is a commitment to make decisions based on reality, not wishes, and to drive optimal outcomes based on concrete facts," the State Department notice said. "The current burdens on the U.S. immigration system must be alleviated before it is again possible to resettle large number of refugees."
Although the 18,000 figure marks a record low, it's better than some advocates had anticipated. The Trump administration had reportedly been considering lowering the cap to zero.
Still, religious leaders and human rights groups said the Trump administration was undermining America's bedrock tradition of welcoming immigrants and offering a beacon of hope to refugees seeking a new life.
“Today’s refugee admissions announcement is immoral, and un-American," said Daryl Grisgraber, of Oxfam America. "It is yet another shameful marker for an administration already in a race to the bottom of inhumane policies that betray everything our nation stands for."
" ... In their senseless quest to keep foreigners out, this administration proves they are willing to abandon our nation’s founding principles and outright reject human rights," Grisgraber added.
“Jesus was a refugee," said the Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO of Faith in Public Life, an advocacy group. "By rejecting so many refugees with this determination, this administration treats Jesus with contempt. Our refugee neighbors and friends bless our faith communities immensely."
A second administration official, also briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the cut in refugee admissions was necessary to deal with an asylum crisis at the southern border. He said the U.S. faces an existing backlog of approximately 1 million asylum cases.
"Not only do we have a legal obligation to adhere to these asylum claims and address them," this official said, "but we also have an obligation to make sure that their cases are heard before any additional burdens are taken on."
Several advocates noted that Trump's move comes at a time when the number of forcibly displaced people is at a record high of more than 70 million people, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, a law school professor and immigration expert at Cornell University, said the administration's justification for slashing refugee admissions – blaming the asylum backlog– is faulty. He said that fewer people are being at the U.S.-Mexico border now than in 2000.
"Moreover, the Trump administration has aggravated the backlog in asylum cases by failing to hire enough immigration judges," Yale-Loehr said.
The State Department had already dramatically cut the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the first years of Trump's presidency – permitting only 28,052 in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2019 , and only 22,491 in all of 2018.
Both are historic lows; in President Barack Obama's final year in office, the annual cap on refugees was 110,000.
Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and five other countries, said he and other advocates had been pushing the Trump administration to lift the refugee cap to 95,000, in line with historic norms.
"That is a drop in the ocean compared to the overall number," Crocker said during a conference call before the Thursday's announcement. But it's enough to set an example for other countries around the world and spur them to follow America's lead.
"This is about American values and it’s about American security," he said. "If we don’t lead on this issue, no one else will."
Since Congress passed the Refugee Act in 1980, the United States has resettled more than 3 million refugees, according to the advocacy group Refugees International. Under the law, the president is supposed to determine the refugee cap after consulting with lawmakers in Congress.
Trump’s cuts to the refugee program have been so severe that in 2018, for the first time, Canada accepted more refugees than the U.S., even though its population is one-ninth that of the U.S.
Trump has also tried to unilaterally block nearly all migrants from requesting asylum at the southwest border. The Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 11 that the Trump administration could begin denying asylum to migrants at the southern border if they have first not sought protection from another country on the way to the U.S. while lower courts consider legal challenges to that policy.
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Refugees typically apply for resettlement in the U.S. while they are still overseas; asylum-seekers do so when they arrive in the U.S. at a port of entry or border crossing.
Contributing: Alan Gomez