Children stand in a muddy street at a refugee camp on January 26, 2018, at the Syrian town of Azaz. (Photo: Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty Images)
The Trump administration has drastically reduced the number of refugees allowed into the United States, but even as overall levels fall, the country is resettling more Christians than Muslims.
According to official State Department data, numbers are down across the board for refugee resettlement, but the drop appears to be especially acute for Muslims. In 2017, 11,493 Muslim refugees were resettled, while 15,548 Christians were. As of February 7, 281 Muslim refugees have been admitted this year, compared with 1,200 Christians, continuing a trend from the first six months of Trump’s time in office. Of the five countries in the world that produce the most refugees, four are majority Muslim.
Trump’s decision to close the door on refugees comes as a worldwide crisis continues to worsen.
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to ban Muslims from being able to travel to the United States, a policy he has enacted as president with uneven success. Beyond Trump’s own anti-Muslim rhetoric, he has attempted to stock his administration with officials who share his views, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Trump’s decision to close the door on refugees comes as a worldwide crisis continues to worsen, despite declining public attention. According to the United Nations, there were 22.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2016, the largest number since World War II.
Trump has reduced the overall number of refugees the US will allow in fiscal year 2018 to 45,000, a decrease from 2017, and a massive reduction from the 85,000 admitted in 2016, the final year of the Obama administration. Even with the dramatically reduced ceiling, the Trump administration is behind schedule, according to a recent statement by Refugee Council USA. “Six thousand seven hundred and four total refugees have arrived to the US during the first four…