Refugee admissions into U.S. dropped significantly in 2017
The U.S. admitted only 29,022 refugees under the Trump administration last year, according to USA Today, citing data from the State Department.
That marks the number of refugees accepted into the country between Jan. 20, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2017, and is the lowest number since at least 2002, the report said, when 29,468 were accepted.
Under the Obama administration, in 2016, the report said that 94,837 refugees were admitted into the U.S. Presidents can set the annual refugee cap, the report said. President Reagan, for example, set it as high as 217,000 in the 1980s.
As a result of President Trump's refugee policy, his administration only plans to accept as many as 45,000 refugees each year going forward, which USA Today said is the lowest cap set since Congress established the Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980.
In December, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration's latest travel ban could take effect. The policy bans travelers into the U.S. from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Under the travel ban, those travelers from the banned countries would only be allowed into the U.S. if they have close family members in the U.S. They would have to be able to prove a relationship with a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling who is already in the U.S. in order to be eligible.
