Refugees International Statement on Proposed Refugee Resettlement Cuts

Refugees International is deeply disappointed by the Trump administration’s reported decision to propose a U.S. refugee resettlement ceiling of only 45,000 for FY2018.

The administration’s own analysis, which has been leaked to the media but which has not been released to the public, demonstrates yet again the significant and substantial economic benefits that refugees resettled in the United States provide to our economy. Far more importantly, at a time at when the numbers of forcibly displaced persons in the world is at its highest recorded levels, this is no time for the United States to be walking away from world leadership on these critical issues. Over the past three decades, the United States has resettled, on average, nearly 100,000 refugees each year. The President can and should reconsider this issue, and authorize a ceiling much closer to that historical level.