By David Nakamura and Seung Min Kim / The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has proposed capping the number of refugees admitted to the United States next year at 18,000, the lowest level since the program began four decades ago, according to Capitol Hill aides briefed on the plan Thursday.
The new limit would represent a 40% drop from the 2019 cap and mark the third consecutive year that the administration has slashed the program since United States admitted nearly 85,000 refugees in President Barack Obama’s final year in office.
In addition, the White House announced an executive order aimed at allowing local jurisdictions more leeway in rejecting refugees who are being resettled across the country, although experts have noted that such powers are less relevant at a time when the number of refugees being admitted has dwindled sharply.
Details of the refugee plan come as the Trump administration has also pursued a wide-ranging crackdown on asylum seekers from Central America. The administration’s refugee plan calls for a cap of 5,000 who fear religious persecution and 1,500 from the three Central American countries driving a surge of asylum-seeking families — Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
President Donald Trump “is abusing his power by using people seeking safety as an opportunity to rile up hostility and create a climate of fear,” Ryan Mace, a refugee specialist at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. “Even though the vast majority of people in this country support welcoming refugees, this administration would like nothing more than to strip away long-standing protections and values for its own interests.”
Though the United States had long been the leading nation for admitting and resettling refugees, it has fallen below Canada, which last year admitted 28,000 refugees compared to 22,000 for the United States, according to a U.N. report.
Like previous administrations, the Trump administration has frustrated both parties in Congress for failing to sufficiently consult with key lawmakers before setting the refugee cap. It is legally required to do so in person with the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees before Sept. 30 every year.
A spokeswoman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said no such consultation had occurred. Graham and his counterpart, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan last week, saying “there has been very limited communication to coordinate consultation.”
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