IMMIGRATION/MIKE POMPEO/REFUGEES/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump plans to cap the number of refugees that can be resettled in the United States next year at 30,000, his administration announced on Monday [9-17-18], further cutting an already drastically scaled-back program that offers protection to foreigners fleeing violence and persecution. Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, announced the limit at the State Department, saying it reflected the ‘daunting operational reality’ of addressing what he called a ‘humanitarian crisis’ involving people claiming asylum in the United States. The number represents the lowest ceiling a president has placed on the refugee program since its creation in 1980, and a reduction of a third from the 45,000-person limit that Mr. Trump set for 2018. The move is the latest in a series of efforts the president has made to clamp down on immigration to the United States, not only through cracking down on those who seek to enter the country illegally, but by making it more difficult to gain legal entry.”
–Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump to Cap Refugees Allowed Into U.S. at 30,000, a Record Low,” The New York Times online, September 17, 2018