Giving Compass' Take:

• Mark Greenberg, Julia Gelatt, and Amy Holovnia discuss the reduction in refugee admissions - especially Muslim refugee admissions - under the Trump administration.  

• How can funders address the needs of refugees around the world? 

• Read about philanthropic strategies to support refugees and asylum seekers. 

Over the last three years, under President Trump’s administration, refugee admissions to the United States have dropped sharply, with 30,000 refugees resettled during fiscal year (FY) 2019—a near-record low. Further cuts are ahead, with the government announcing a record low resettlement ceiling of 18,000 for FY 2020. And with the administration for the first time allowing state and local governments a voice in resettlement, actual arrival numbers could be lower.

The steep decline in overall resettlement since FY 2016, the last full year of the Obama administration, has not affected all refugee populations equally. Exceptionally dramatic reductions have occurred in refugee admissions from particular countries, most notably from the Middle East, with an attendant plunge in resettlement of Muslim refugees.

Refugee Admissions Have Fallen by Two-Thirds Since 2016

In FY 2019, the United States admitted 29,818 refugees for resettlement. While this represents an increase from the FY 2018 figure of 22,491, last year marked the lowest refugee admission total since the modern refugee program was created in 1980.

As a candidate, Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” While the shutdown has not been complete, Muslim refugee resettlement has plummeted. The number of Muslim admissions has fallen 87 percent since FY 2016—from 38,999 to 4,943. Christian admissions have also fallen over this period, by 37 percent, from 37,521 to 23,754. But, because Muslim admissions have fallen so much more, the great majority of admitted refugees are now Christian: In FY 2019, 79 percent of refugees were Christian and 16 percent Muslim—as compared to 44 percent Christian and 46 percent Muslim in 2016.

Read the full article about refugee admissions under the Trump administration by Mark Greenberg, Julia Gelatt, and Amy Holovnia at Migration Policy Institute.