President Donald Trump Slashes Refugee Admissions To Record Low

The Trump administration has slashed refugee admissions for fiscal 2021 to 15,000, the lowest in U.S. history. Last fiscal year, Trump capped refugee admissions at 18,000.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, the State Department said the reduction in admissions is a “commitment to prioritize the safety and well-being of Americans, especially in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

The move comes after Trump attacked Democratic nominee Joe BIden during a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, claiming he would turn the state into a “refugee camp” if elected president.

“Biden will turn Minnesota into a refugee camp, and he said that — overwhelming public resources, overcrowding schools and inundating hospitals. You know that. It’s already there. It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to your state,” Trump told supporters. Minnesota has a high number of refugees who fled violence in Somalia.

Before the Trump administration, the U.S. had admitted an average of 95,000 refugees a year since 1980. If Biden seizes the White House, his administration would raise the annual refugee admissions cap to 125,000.

“Trump has waged an unrelenting assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants,” Biden's campaign website says. “It’s wrong, and it stops when Joe Biden is elected president.”

Trump views refugees as a threat to national security. During his presidential run in 2015, Trump said Syrian refugees would “go back” if he was elected.