DHS/IMMIGRATION/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. admitted about 5,000 refugees in the first three months of fiscal year 2018, far below similar periods in recent years, as the Trump administration implemented tougher screening and all but halted admissions from parts of the world that generate large numbers of refugees.
Unless the pace of admissions picks up, the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. for the year will fall below the 2018 ceiling of 45,000 that President Donald Trump set last fall. That ceiling is the lowest since the refugee program began in its current incarnation in 1980.
The lower numbers recorded in October, November and December, the first quarter of the fiscal year, reflect a range of Trump administration policies, including a near-total suspension of admissions from 11 countries including Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Syria. For most of this period, the administration only allowed people from those countries who could show their arrival was in the U.S. ‘national interest.’…
Refugee advocates say the low number of admissions is evidence that the administration is failing to uphold what they see as traditional U.S. leadership in aiding some of the most desperate people on Earth…
The changes are producing a shift in the religious makeup of incoming refugees. In recent years, those who identify as Muslims have made up more than 40% of all admitted refugees. Muslims comprised 14% of the total during the first three months of this fiscal year. The proportion of Christians and, to a lesser extent, Buddhists and Hindus, has risen, the Journal review found…
The White House denies that refugee or other immigration policies are driven by religious affiliation and say the goal is to safeguard against possible entry by terrorists.”
-Laura Meckler, “Refugee Admissions to U.S. Off to Slow Start in Fiscal Year 2018,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 7, 2018 09:17pm