Trump administration sets lowest-ever cap on refugee admissions to U.S.

The Trump administration is drastically cutting the number of refugees it will admit to the U.S., capping it at 7,500 for the current fiscal year. That's the lowest since the U.S. refugee program was established in 1980.

The U.S. wants to primarily admit Afrikaners from South Africa, according to a notification in the Federal Register filed Thursday, and "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands."

The administration has largely paused the U.S. refugee resettlement program so far this year, with the exception of a streamlined process of resettlement for white South Africans. Several hundred from the group have been resettled across the U.S. since March.

In response, some resettlement groups have been quick to voice concern over the lack of resources and limits on admission of those from other countries. Others have shuttered their services, changing the landscape of the refugee resettlement process.

Thursday's notification, which covers the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, does not provide a reason for the lower cap, beyond mentioning previous Trump administration policies on refugees, including pausing admissions overall and barring admissions from countries seen as threats to U.S. security and welfare.

Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, previously told reporters that criteria for bringing in refugees included making sure that they did not pose a national security challenge and could be easily assimilated.

"This decision doesn't just lower the refugee admissions ceiling. It lowers our moral standing," Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, said in a statement. "At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the program's purpose, as well as its credibility."

The Biden administration had set the refugee cap at 125,000 for fiscal year 2025.

Push for higher caps

Refugee advocates have spent the year pushing for a broader range of admissions beyond Afrikaners, including admitting people from other countries who had already been vetted to arrive in the U.S.

"It is egregious to exclude refugees who completed years of rigorous security checks and are currently stuck in dangerous and precarious situations," said Sharif Aly, president of the International Refugee Assistance Project. He said that the number of those with confirmed travel plans to the U.S. is greater than the new refugee cap.

The admission of Afrikaners to the U.S. has drawn scrutiny from resettlement agencies in the U.S., who have faced sharp budget, resource, and personnel cuts since President Donald Trump took office.

Among his first executive actions, Trump paused the refugee resettlement program. Various agencies including the State Department have also paused disbursing funding for critical services for other refugees, such as the home, job and school assistance the Afrikaners are poised to receive.

The pause also sent the refugee resettlement agencies into turmoil as refugees already cleared to arrive in the U.S. received notice their flights had been cancelled.

Among those left in limbo were Afghans who worked with the U.S. military, a move that some Republicans have criticized. A lower-court judge had ordered the government to at least resume the refugee program for those who had already been approved to travel, but an appeals court ruled in favor of the administration.

The notice in the Federal Register makes no mention of Afghans, despite past promises to help those who supported the U.S. in America's longest war.

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