FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
CONTACT
Dawn Le, 202-549-6798, dawn@generate.group
Brandon Lee, 773-271-0899 x200, blee@advancingjustice-chicago.org
With Drastic Cut in Refugee Numbers, Trump Sets in Motion Policies to Rid Country of Refugees, Immigrants, People of Color
During the worst refugee crisis in history, the Trump administration is intentionally dismantling the life-saving and bipartisan refugee admissions program. The United States is projected to admit less than half of the number of refugees allowed under the current cap of 45,000 (19,899 refugees as of the end of August, projected to reach a high of 21,708 by the end of the fiscal year on September 30). Now the Trump Administration calls to drastically cut the FY2019 refugee cap to 30,000—only to slam the door on more refugees and asylum seekers who are desperately fleeing violence and terror in their home countries.
Below is a statement by the Value Our Families coalition:
“Cutting refugee numbers while the world faces the worst displacement crisis in history is unconscionable. This is the most recent example of Trump exploiting his executive power to put into motion his anti-family, anti-refugee, anti-immigrant agenda. With or without Congress, the Trump administration is putting innocent lives in jeopardy. He is deliberately dismantling the life-saving refugee resettlement program blow by blow, leaving many refugee families separated as they await the resettlement of their loved ones, and abandoning thousands of other refugee families who will now not have a chance to rebuild their lives in safety.
“He’s already blocked tens of thousands of families from being reunited by creating more hurdles and redtape in family-based immigration, the program that allows U.S. citizens and green-card residents to sponsor their relatives to the United States has suffered the largest decline in approvals.
“Whether it’s his Muslim bans, zero-tolerance policies that led to the family separation disaster and locking children inside cages, or his blatant disregard for immigrant families, refugees, and asylum seekers, Congress must rein in Trump now.”