The Trump administration will admit no more than 30,000 refugees to the U.S. in the coming year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, down from the current cap of 45,000.
Pompeo announced the lowered ceiling during a press conference Monday at the State Department headquarters in Foggy Bottom.
Pompeo said the 30,000 cap “must be considered in the context of the many other forms of protection and assistance offered by the United States” and should not be “sole barometer” to measure the country’s humanitarian efforts.
The hawkish turn demonstrates President Donald Trump’s willingness to push hard-line immigration policies in the run-up to the November midterm elections — even after his controversial “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy led to thousands of family separations and a court order to reunify parents and children.
When Trump took office, the refugee cap stood at 110,000. He lowered that to 50,000 shortly after he took office, and subsequently to 45,000 this fiscal year.
The administration argued last year that refugee resources should be employed to address a backlog of domestic asylum cases that ballooned to more 300,000 cases this year — an argument repeated by Pompeo Monday. Unlike refugees, who apply from overseas, asylum seekers request protection after arriving in the U.S.
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