Refugee Admissions Down 70 Percent in First Full Year of Trump Administration

Activists demonstrate as international travelers arrive on the first day of the the partia
David McNew/Getty
Michael Patrick Leahy

During his first full year in office, President Trump delivered on his campaign promise to limit refugee admissions to the United States from countries that are known hotbeds of terrorism.

Overall, refugee admissions during the 365 full days since his inauguration at noon on January 20, 2017 have declined by 70 percent from the previous complete calendar year under the Obama administration.

From January 21, 2017 to January 20, 2018 (Trump Calendar Year 2017), a total of 29,620 refugees have been admitted to the United States, according to the State Department’s wrapsnet.org website, the source of the refugee admissions data used in this story.

In contrast, from January 21, 2016 to January 20, 2017, the last full calendar year of the Obama administration (Obama Calendar Year 2016), a total of 98,898 refugees were admitted to the United States.

The most compelling aspect of the refugee arrival data for President Trump’s first full calendar year is the dramatic drop in refugee arrivals from the seven countries identified as terrorist hotbeds (Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, and Libya) in Executive Order 13769 to whom the travel ban initially applied.

Refugee arrivals from those seven countries declined by 81 percent, from 45,114 in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 8,475 in Trump Calendar Year 2017.

That decline was even more precipitous when comparing the FY 2017 data during Trump Calendar Year 2017 (8 months and 11 days) with the FY 2018 data (3 months and 2o days) during Trump Calendar Year 2017.

The number of refugees arriving in the United States from these seven countries each day declined by 97 percent when Obama Calendar Year 2016 is compared to the FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year 2017.

During Obama Calendar Year 2016, 123 refugees per day arrived in the United States from those seven countries (45,114 over 365 days).

In dramatic contrast, during the first 8 months and 11 days of Trump Calendar Year 2017 (the last part of FY 2017), 32 refugees per day arrived in the United States from those countries (8,166 over 253 days). In the last 3 months and 20 days of Trump Calendar Year 2017 (the first part of FY 2018) that number dropped even further to three refugees per day who arrived in the United States from those countries (309 refugees over 112 days).

A quick summary of this data for these seven countries comparing Obama Calendar Year 2016 to the complete Trump Calendar Year 2017 shows:

  • Syria dropped 88 percent, from 16,395 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 1,972 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 1,972 refugees that were admitted from Syria in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 1,939 arrived in FY 2017, while only 33 arrived in FY 2018.
  • Iraq dropped 80 percent, from 11,940 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 2,308 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 2,308 refugees that were admitted from Iraq in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 2,229 arrived in FY 2017, while only 79 arrived in FY 2018.
  • Somalia dropped 77 percent, from 10,811 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 2,454 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Breaking Trump Calendar Year 2017 down further, 2,324 refugees arrived from Somalia in FY 2017, while only 130 arrived in FY 2018.
  • Iran dropped 75 percent,  from 4,412 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 1,124 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 1,124 refugees that were admitted from Iran in Trump Calendar Year 2017,  1,095 arrived in FY 2017, while only 29 arrived in FY 2018.
  • Sudan dropped 61 percent, from 1,524 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 601 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. Of the 601 refugees that were admitted from Sudan in Trump Calendar Year 2017, 563 arrived in FY 2017, while only 38 arrived in FY 2018.
  • Yemen dropped 42 percent, from 28 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 16 in Trump Calendar Year 2017. All 16 refugees that were admitted from Yemen in Trump Calendar Year 2017 arrived in FY 2017.
  • Libya dropped 100 percent, from 4 refugee arrivals in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to none in Trump Calendar Year 2017.

These results are the fulfillment of promises President Trump made on the campaign trail.

“When I’m elected president, we will suspend the Syrian refugee program and we will keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Trump said at a November 6 rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota just two days before the presidential election he won.

“And we will pause admissions from terror-prone regions until a full security assessment has been performed, and until a proven vetting mechanism has been established,” he added.

It is worth noting that if Hillary Clinton had won, the overall number of refugees admitted into the country would have increased dramatically from the 98,898 refugees admitted during President Obama’s final 365 days in office.

As for refugees from Syria, a Hillary Clinton administration would also have significantly increased the number of refugees from the 16,395 admitted from that country during the last 365 days of the Obama administration, a point that Trump drove home on the campaign trail.

“Hillary wants a 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees pouring into our country. And she wants virtually unlimited immigration and refugee admissions, from the most dangerous regions of the world, to come into our country and to come into Minnesota, and you know it better than anybody,” Trump said at that November 6 rally in Minneapolis.

“Her plan will import generations of terrorism, extremism, and radicalism into your schools and throughout your communities,” Trump pointed out.

A comparison of the country of origin of arriving refugees during these two time periods illustrates the refugee admissions changes under the Trump administration.

During Obama Calendar Year 2106 the top ten countries of origin for arriving refugees were as follows:

Top Ten Countries of Origin for Refugees Arriving in the US, January 21, 2016 to January 20, 2017 (Obama Calendar Year 2016)

  1. Democratic Republic of Congo (19,674)

  2. Syria (16,395)

  3. Iraq (11,940)

  4. Burma (11,260)

  5. Somalia (10,811)

  6. Bhutan (5,989)

  7. Iran (4,412)

  8. Ukraine (3,812)

  9. Afghanistan (3,070)

  10. Eritrea (2,087)

    TOTAL = 98,898

In contrast, during Trump Calendar Year 2017, the top ten countries of origin for arriving refugees were:

Top Ten Countries of Origin for Refugees Arriving in the US, January 21, 2017 to January 20, 2018 (Trump Calendar Year 2017)

  1. Democratic Republic of Congo (5,189)

  2. Burma (3,633)

  3. Bhutan (3,623 )

  4. Ukraine (3,013 )

  5. Somalia (2,454 )

  6. Iraq (2,308 )

  7. Syria  (1,972 )

  8. Eritrea (1,790 )

  9. Iran (1,124 )

  10. El Salvador (791 )

    TOTAL = 29,620

The top ten countries of origin for refugees arriving during the FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year 2017 were:

Top Ten Countries of Origin for Refugees Arriving in the US, October 1, 2017 to January 20, 2018 (FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year 2017)

  1. Bhutan (1,654)

  2. Democratic Republic of Congo (1,233)

  3. Burma (758)

  4. Ukraine (647 )

  5. Eritrea (491 )

  6. Russia (162 )

  7. El Salvador  (140)

  8. Somalia (130 )

  9. Ethiopia (113 )

  10. Afghanistan (108)

    TOTAL = 6,026

 

The two time periods also saw significant differences in the religion of the arriving refugees.

During Obama Calendar Year 2016, 47 percent of arriving refugees (46,284 out of 98,898) were Muslim, while 44 percent were Christian (43,198 out of 98,898).

During Trump Calendar Year 2017, only 31 percent of arriving refugees (9,237 out of 29,620) were Muslim, while 54 percent were Christian (15,937 out of 29,620). That difference was even more dramatic in the FY 2018 portion of Trump Calendar Year 2017, when only 13 percent of arriving refugees (800 out of 6,026) were Muslim and 55 percent were Christian (3,344 out of 6,026).

 

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