Launching yet another bigotry-driven attack on those fleeing wars and humanitarian crises in which the US is playing an active and deadly role, the Trump administration announced late Monday that it is reducing America’s refugee admission limit for 2019 to a record-low 30,000.
Eric Schwartz, president of Refugees International, called it an “appalling” announcement.
“At a time when the world is facing the largest displacement crisis in recorded history, it is unconscionable that the Trump administration would further dismantle the US Refugee Admissions Program by setting a cap of 30,000 refugee admissions for fiscal year 2019 — the lowest resettlement cap in the program’s history,” Win Without War director Stephen Miles said in a statement slamming the White House’s decision.
“What’s more,” Miles continued, “the US has a direct moral responsibility to open its doors, not slam them shut, given that our own nation is an active combatant in many of the very conflicts and humanitarian crises driving the global refugee crisis.”
We are experiencing the largest displacement crisis in recorded history with over 68 million displaced persons and 25 million refugees globally. Today the Trump administration lowered the US refugee cap to 30,000 people per year. Shameful. #RefugeesWelcome https://t.co/6Bf3irUbIS
— Win Without War (@WinWithoutWar) September 18, 2018
Unveiled by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, the new “cap” of 30,000 refugees is 15,000 lower than the 2018 mark, making the new policy a major victory for top White House adviser and virulent racist Stephen Miller.
According to the New York Times, Miller joined forces with President Donald Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly to push for an even lower cap of 25,000 refugees, and Pompeo ultimately accepted Miller’s xenophobic push for a “deep cut.”
“This is the lowest goal in…