Trump Administration Cements Record Low Refugee Resettlement Cap of 15,000

Please see below statement from Refugees International President Eric Schwartz on the Trump administration’s announcement of a refugee ceiling of 15,000, and on restrictions on resettlement of refugees from Somalia, Syria, and Yemen: 

“In a cruel and nasty way, President Trump today continued his “most Muslims need not apply” approach to the U.S. Refugee Admissions program, doubling down on draconian restrictions on admission of refugees fleeing some of the world’s most dire human rights and humanitarian crises. Tragically, the policy is the natural extension of the hateful, false, and misleading election year vitriol that President Trump has recently directed at new Americans. The irony, of course, is that many thousands of these individuals—our friends and our neighbors—are serving as front line workers in battling the COVID-19 pandemic that has so affected our country.

Of course, this paltry ceiling of 15,000 is inadequate to meet U.S. responsibilities to Muslim and non-Muslim refugees alike, whether they are from Iraq, Syria, or Somalia, or from Cuba, Eurasia, the Baltics, or Central America.

This is a dark day for U.S. leadership around the world.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Sarah Sheffer at ssheffer@refugeesinaternational.org.