State Department cuts refugee admissions

The United States plans to admit up to 15,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2021, the smallest number in the program’s history. President Donald Trump’s administration submitted the new ceiling to Congress late Wednesday.

Is the low number because of the pandemic? The Trump administration set last year’s ceiling at a record low of 18,000. Only 10,800 refugees entered the United States in the 2020 fiscal year before the government halted the program from March to July to slow the spread of COVID-19. The administration claimed the new ceiling accounts for refugees turned away because of the pandemic. It said the program will focus on refugees from Central America, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Venezuela, as well as Iraqis persecuted for aiding the United States. The government also plans to admit nearly 300,000 asylum seekers.

Dig deeper: Read my report in Compassion on a bipartisan push to admit more refugees.