The Trump administration announces a record ceiling for refugee admissions



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The United States will cap refugee admissions to 30,000 in 2019, a 33 per cent drop from a record high of 45,000 set in 2018.

Pompeo said that the number should not be considered "the only barometer" of the US commitment to humanitarian efforts around the world, adding that the US "would focus on humanitarian protection cases of those already present in the country ".

As evidence, Pompeo cited the number of asylum claims expected next year, saying that the US will process up to 280,000 such claims in 2019.

"The ultimate goal is the best possible care and security for those in need, and our approach is designed to achieve this noble goal," said Pompeo. "We are and continue to be the most generous nation in the world."

Refugee resettlement agencies, immigrant rights groups and religious leaders have lobbied for the administration to raise the ceiling, noting that the number of refugees in need of assistance in the world is rising. bigger than ever.

But the announcement of Monday is not a surprise. Administration officials have been working to reduce refugee resettlement in the United States since President Donald Trump came to power.

Last year, the authorities lowered the ceiling to 45,000, a dramatic drop from the 110,000 ceiling set by the administration of President Barack Obama for fiscal 2017.
And the United States will not even admit as much. CNN reported in June that the United States is in the process of admitting the smallest number of refugees since the start of its resettlement program in 1980, tens of thousands of dollars below the ceiling.

Monday's announcement was quickly condemned by refugee resettlement organizations.

"The United States is abdicating not only humanitarian leadership and shared responsibility in response to the worst displacement in the world and the refugee crisis since the Second World War, but also compromising critical strategic interests and foregoing commitments to allies and people vulnerable people, "said the Committee.

Pompeo's assertion that the United States will treat up to 310,000 refugees and asylum seekers also constitutes a false equivalence between the two issues.

Refugee and asylum protections are designed for similar reasons to protect persecuted immigrants. Refugee protection is granted to immigrants who are still abroad, while asylum is reserved for immigrants who have already arrived on American soil.

The number of asylum seekers is unlimited and, in recent years, about 20,000 to 25,000 asylum seekers have benefited from annual protections, according to the latest statistics available.

There are two sources of resources and funding for refugees and asylum applications.

They also apply differently – the State Department dealing with refugee admissions and the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice dealing with asylum applications. However, interviewers conducting screening may be deployed to handle either type of interview.

However, intransigent immigration and administration have sought to limit the growing number of asylum applications each year, largely because of immigrants arriving at the southern border.

The figure announced Monday reflects a compromise between supporters of the Trump administration, such as Stephen Miller, in favor of capping at 20,000 euros, and Pompeo, the national security advisor John Bolton and the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. 45,000, according to several senior officials of the administration.

A senior NSC official at the White House

Miller personally lobbied cabinet officials to support the president's desire to focus on border security, officials told CNN, and the issue was discussed at a committee meeting. secret directors Friday.

Hundreds of thousands of asylum applications are pending between Immigration Courts, run by the Department of Justice, and applications directed to the Citizenship and Immigration Services of the States. United States, managed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Depending on how a person requests asylum and where the application is pending, the case may be pending before either party or the other.

Catherine Shoichet, Tal Kopan, Michelle Kosinski and Jennifer Hansler contributed to the report

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