The U.S. State Department has more than doubled the refugee inflow from seven terror-prone countries since a Seattle judge’s decision to block President Donald Trump’s immigration reform, according to a report in The Washington Times.
Since the Feb. 3 ruling, 1,100 refugees have entered the United States, with 77 percent arriving from the seven terror-prone countries outlined on Trump’s executive order.
In a statement to The Washington Times, the State Department said the increase in numbers was a result of “rescheduling those whose travel had been suspended the previous week.”
The countries, which include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen, were originally deemed a terror threat by President Barack Obama’s administration, as part of the Terrorist Prevention Act of 2015.
Out of the 1,100 refugees admitted, 346 come from Syria, while 232 originate from Iraq. Meanwhile, 64 per cent of recent arrivals identify as Muslim, compared to just 31 percent of arrivals in the first week of the Trump administration.
In his popular reform, Trump also promised to prioritize helping Christian refugees, who face religious persecution in the Middle-East, where the majority of the populations are Muslim.
On Wednesday, Trump criticized the increase in refugee settlers, arguing that the American people are “far more vulnerable.”
On Thursday, San Francisco’s federal appeals court refused to reinstate Trump’s travel order, arguing that “there is no precedent to support this claimed unreviewability, which runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy.”
Trump immediately criticized the decision, claiming that “the security of our nation is at stake.” He is expected to lodge an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.
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