Seventeen Muslim Refugees Have Legally Entered the U.S. Since Trump Signed Executive Order

Two hundred and six refugees, 17 of whom are Muslims, have legally entered the United States in the four full days since President Trump signed the “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States“executive order temporarily banning refugees from entry.

“Homeland Secretary John Kelly said the government has granted waivers to allow 872 refugees to enter the country, after the president’s order last week suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days,” UPI reported on Tuesday, noting that “[t]he order, however, allows for waivers for refugees ‘already in transit’ who would face hardship if denied admission.”

The 206 refugees who arrived between Saturday and Tuesday (as reported at the State Department’s interactive website) were among those 872.

The seventeen Muslim refugees among those 206 came from four countries: Afghanistan (11), Ethiopia (3), Sri Lanka (2), and Eritrea (1).

It is not clear when the remaining 666 refugees granted waivers will arrive in the United States.

Ninety-seven Christians of various denominations, 39 Hindus, and 38 Buddhists were among the 206.

Bhutan was country of origin for 102 of the 206 refugees, the highest number of arrivals for any of the 13 countries of origin.

The top countries of origin, in order, in the remaining twelve countries were the Democratic Republic of Congo (38), El Salvador (20), Afghanistan (11),  Burma (6), Honduras (6), Rwanda (6), Eritrea (5), Ethiopia (3), Ivory Coast (3), Nepal (3), Sri Lanka (2), and Burundi (1).

No refugees from the seven Middle Eastern countries in which the executive order temporarily blocked the issuance of visas — Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia — were among the 206 refugees who arrived.

Prior to the order, these seven countries accounted for 49 percent of the 32,125 refugees (or 15,858) who were  resettled in the country between the beginning of FY 2017 on October 1, 2016 and January 27, 2017, the day President Trump signed the Executive Order; Syria (4,884), Iraq (4,840), Somalia (4,034), Iran (1,637),  Sudan (454), Yemen (6), and Libya (3).

Forty-seven percent of refugees who entered the United States in FY 2017 prior to the executive order, or 15,113 out of 32,125, were Muslims, according to the State Department’s interactive website.

Eight percent of the 206 refugees who entered the United States in the three days subsequent to the executive order, or 17 out of the 206, were Muslims.