Refugee Admissions Down 70 Percent in First Full Year of Trump Administration, by Michael Patrick Leahy, 1/21/18
During his first full year in office, President Trump
delivered on his campaign promise to limit refugee admissions to the United
States from countries that are known hotbeds of terrorism.
Overall, refugee
admissions during the 365 full days since his inauguration at noon on January
20, 2017 have declined by 70 percent from the previous complete calendar year
under the Obama administration.
From January 21, 2017 to
January 20, 2018 (Trump Calendar Year 2017), a total of 29,620 refugees
have been admitted to the United States, according to the State
Department’s wrapsnet.org website, the source of the refugee admissions data
used in this story.
In contrast, from
January 21, 2016 to January 20, 2017, the last full calendar year of the Obama
administration (Obama Calendar Year 2016), a total of 98,898 refugees were
admitted to the United States.
The most compelling
aspect of the refugee arrival data for President Trump’s first full calendar
year is the dramatic drop in refugee arrivals from the seven countries
identified as terrorist hotbeds (Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, and
Libya) in Executive Order 13769 to whom the travel ban initially
applied.
Refugee arrivals from
those seven countries declined by 81 percent, from 45,114 in Obama Calendar
Year 2016 to 8,475 in Trump Calendar Year 2017.
That decline was even
more precipitous when comparing the FY 2017 data during Trump Calendar Year
2017 (8 months and 11 days) with the FY 2018 data (3 months and 2o days) during
Trump Calendar Year 2017.
The number of refugees
arriving in the United States from these seven countries each day declined by
97 percent when Obama Calendar Year 2016 is compared to the FY 2018 portion of
Trump Calendar Year 2017.
During Obama
Calendar Year 2016, 123 refugees per day arrived in the
United States from those seven countries (45,114 over 365 days).
In dramatic contrast,
during the first 8 months and 11 days of Trump Calendar Year
2017 (the last part of FY 2017), 32 refugees per day arrived
in the United States from those countries (8,166 over 253 days). In the
last 3 months and 20 days of Trump Calendar Year
2017 (the first part of FY 2018) that number dropped even further to three
refugees per day who arrived in the United States from
those countries (309 refugees over 112 days).
A quick summary of this
data for these seven countries comparing Obama Calendar Year 2016 to the
complete Trump Calendar Year 2017 shows:
· Syria dropped
88 percent, from 16,395 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year
2016 to 1,972 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 1,972 refugees that were
admitted from Syria in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 1,939 arrived in FY 2017,
while only 33 arrived in FY 2018.
· Iraq dropped
80 percent, from 11,940 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year
2016 to 2,308 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 2,308 refugees that were
admitted from Iraq in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 2,229 arrived in FY 2017, while
only 79 arrived in FY 2018.
· Somalia dropped
77 percent, from 10,811 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year
2016 to 2,454 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Breaking Trump Calendar Year 2017
down further, 2,324 refugees arrived from Somalia in FY 2017, while only 130
arrived in FY 2018.
· Iran dropped 75 percent, from 4,412 refugee arrivals in Obama
Calendar Year 2016 to 1,124 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 1,124 refugees
that were admitted from Iran in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 1,095 arrived
in FY 2017, while only 29 arrived in FY 2018.
· Sudan dropped
61 percent, from 1,524 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year
2016 to 601 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 601 refugees that were admitted
from Sudan in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 563 arrived in FY 2017, while only 38
arrived in FY 2018.
· Yemen dropped
42 percent, from 28 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year
2016 to 16 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. All 16 refugees that were admitted from
Yemen in Trump Calendar Year 2017 arrived in FY 2017.
· Libya dropped
100 percent, from 4 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year
2016 to none in Trump Calendar Year 2017.
These results are the
fulfillment of promises President Trump made on the campaign trail. “When I’m
elected president, we will suspend the Syrian refugee program and we will keep
radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Trump said at
a November 6 rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota just two days before the
presidential election he won.
“And we will pause
admissions from terror-prone regions until a full security assessment has been
performed, and until a proven vetting mechanism has been established,” he
added.
It is worth noting that
if Hillary Clinton had won, the overall number of refugees admitted into the
country would have increased dramatically from the 98,898 refugees admitted
during President Obama’s final 365 days in office.
As for refugees from
Syria, a Hillary Clinton administration would also have significantly increased
the number of refugees from the 16,395 admitted from that country during the
last 365 days of the Obama administration, a point that Trump drove home on the
campaign trail.
“Hillary wants a 550
percent increase in Syrian refugees pouring into our country. And she wants
virtually unlimited immigration and refugee admissions, from the most dangerous
regions of the world, to come into our country and to come into Minnesota, and
you know it better than anybody,” Trump said at
that November 6 rally in Minneapolis.
“Her plan will import
generations of terrorism, extremism, and radicalism into your schools and
throughout your communities,” Trump pointed out.
A comparison of the
country of origin of arriving refugees during these two time periods
illustrates the refugee admissions changes under the Trump administration.
During Obama Calendar Year 2106 the top ten countries of
origin for arriving refugees were as follows:
Top Ten Countries of Origin for Refugees Arriving in the US, January 21,
2016 to January 20, 2017 (Obama Calendar Year 2016)
1.
Democratic
Republic of Congo (19,674)
2.
Syria
(16,395)
3.
Iraq
(11,940)
4.
Burma
(11,260)
5.
Somalia
(10,811)
6.
Bhutan
(5,989)
7.
Iran
(4,412)
8.
Ukraine
(3,812)
9.
Afghanistan
(3,070)
10. Eritrea (2,087)
TOTAL = 98,898
In contrast, during
Trump Calendar Year 2017, the top ten countries of origin for arriving refugees
were:
Top Ten Countries of Origin for Refugees Arriving in the US, January 21,
2017 to January 20, 2018 (Trump Calendar Year 2017)
1.
Democratic
Republic of Congo (5,189)
2.
Burma
(3,633)
3.
Bhutan
(3,623 )
4.
Ukraine
(3,013 )
5.
Somalia
(2,454 )
6.
Iraq
(2,308 )
7.
Syria
(1,972 )
8.
Eritrea
(1,790 )
9.
Iran
(1,124 )
10. El Salvador (791 )
TOTAL = 29,620
The top ten countries of
origin for refugees arriving during the FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year
2017 were:
Top Ten Countries of Origin for Refugees Arriving in the US, October 1,
2017 to January 20, 2018 (FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year 2017)
1.
Bhutan
(1,654)
2.
Democratic
Republic of Congo (1,233)
3.
Burma
(758)
4.
Ukraine
(647 )
5.
Eritrea
(491 )
6.
Russia
(162 )
7.
El
Salvador (140)
8.
Somalia
(130 )
9.
Ethiopia
(113 )
10. Afghanistan (108)
TOTAL = 6,026
The two time periods
also saw significant differences in the religion of the arriving refugees.
During Obama Calendar
Year 2016, 47 percent of arriving refugees (46,284 out of 98,898) were Muslim,
while 44 percent were Christian (43,198 out of 98,898).
During Trump Calendar
Year 2017, only 31 percent of arriving refugees (9,237 out of 29,620) were
Muslim, while 54 percent were Christian (15,937 out of 29,620). That difference
was even more dramatic in the FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year 2017, when
only 13 percent of arriving refugees (800 out of 6,026) were Muslim and 55
percent were Christian (3,344 out of 6,026).
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More Stories About:
Big Government, Immigration, National Security, Executive Order 13679, Iran, Iraq, Libya, President Obama, President Trump, Refugee Admissions, refugees, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
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