Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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US Cuts Refugee Admissions, Creating Doubt for Tens of Thousands of
Applicants

Aline Barros

   The United States will admit a maximum of 15,000 refugees for fiscal
   2021, an all-time low, according to a [1]notice the Trump
   administration published Friday in the Federal Register.

   The administration also suspended entry of most refugees from Syria,
   Somalia and Yemen, citing terrorism risks.

   The notice states that the cap "is justified by humanitarian concerns"
   and "incorporates more than 6,000 unused places from the FY 2020
   refugee admissions ceiling that might have been used if not for the
   COVID-19 pandemic."

   The new ceiling, down from 18,000 the previous fiscal year and far
   lower than the 84,000 refugees admitted in 2016, will remain in effect
   at least until January and possibly beyond, even if there is a
   transition at the White House.

   Humanitarian organizations told VOA the number of Syrian, Somali and
   Yemeni refugees already referred for resettlement in the U.S. was
   almost double the number established by the cap.

   As of October 27, nonprofit groups confirmed that 27,023 individuals
   were in the "pipeline" for resettlement in the United States, pending
   security checks.

   The breakdown among the countries was 12,924 from Somalia, 14,084 from
   Syria and 15 people from Yemen, according to two humanitarian
   organizations.

   Jennifer Quigley, refugee advocacy director at Human Rights First,
   noted the refugee resettlement process is slow and laborious and that
   refugees referred by the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) are in the
   pipeline for over a year.

References

   1. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/06/2020-24912/presidential-determination-on-refugee-admissions-for-fiscal-year-2021

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