Last night the Trump administration submitted its report to Congress that will set the refugee cap for FY 2018 to 45,000, a drastic decline from the 85,000 Pres. Obama set in FY16. Under the Refugee Act of 1980 the president has the power to set the refugee admissions cap and this is the lowest cap since the program began in 1975.
According to reports the State Department wanted to allow in 50,000 while DHS said that for vetting reasons the number should be set at 40,000. Pres. Trump issued a final number that landed in between.
On the number of refugees one U.S. official said, “The safety and the security of the American people is No. 1, and we want to make sure no one is allowed through who would endanger the safety of the American people.”
Pres. Trump has advocated for helping refugees closer to their home countries instead of resettling them in the United States.
“For the cost of resettling one refugee in the United States, we can assist more than 10 in their home region,” Trump said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. “This is the safe, responsible and humanitarian approach.”
Read more on this story at The Hill.
