Trump Ready to Turn Away Another 20,000 Refugees
Two years ago, the U.S. was ready to welcome 110,000 refugees. Last year, the ceiling for admitting people was 45,000. Ex-Trump officials say this years ceiling will be half that.
SPENCER ACKERMAN
07.05.18 8:00 PM ET
The Trump administration is likely to set the United States ceiling for admitting refugees at approximately half of what it was last year, according to two knowledgeable former Trump administration officials and several refugee advocates familiar with internal debates. And last years quota was the lowest level for refugees since 1980all while a migration crisis unfolds worldwide.
The administration doesnt officially have a refugee number set on paper yet, sources said, and officials dont have to reach a formal decision until September. But theyre sending signals internally and to outside interlocutors that the next years cap on refugee admissions will be between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to these ex-officials and advocates. Thats about half of the 45,000-refugee ceiling the Trump administration set last year, and four to five times lower than the Obama administrations final-year refugee ceiling of 110,000.
I feel like its a really dark moment, so fundamentally un-American, said Barbara Strack, who served as chief of the Department of Homeland Securitys refugee-affairs division for the Trump administration until January.
Strack and other ex-officials say theyre worried about a downward spiral in the United States ability to admit vulnerable people fleeing dire conditions of war, extreme poverty, persecution, or natural disaster. Lowered admissions ceilings can lead to the U.S. cutting off resources for resettling refugees, which can in turn prompt anti-refugee officials to cite the diminished capacity for lowering the ceilings furthersparking a structural degeneration in infrastructure for admitting refugees that threatens to outlive the Trump administration.
more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-ready-to-turn-away-another-20000-refugees?ref=home