White House Guts U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following weeks of speculation, the White House yesterday gutted the U.S. Refugee Admission Program (USRAP), a program created in the wake of World War II to facilitate refugee resettlement in the U.S. The program – which had historically seen strong bipartisan support – has seen a dramatic decline under the Trump administration in the number of refugees that could be admitted into the U.S. each year, going from 110,000 in FY 2017 to 30,000 in FY 2019. Yesterday’s action reduces the number of admissions for FY 2020 to 18,000, a historic low.

In response to this latest anti-refugee policy out of the White House, Joan Timoney, vice president, advocacy and external relations at the Women’s Refugee Commission, issued the following statement:

“This administration has made it clear, since day one, that refugees are unwelcome here in the United States. Not only does this White House action flout our global commitments, it flies in the face of our nation’s values.

“This abhorrent decision will have a dangerous ripple effect around the world and drastically reduce our ability to work with other nations on global refugee resettlement priorities. That the administration would do this is outrageous. That it would do it at a time when the number of refugees worldwide is at a historic high is unconscionable.”

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