The State Department will no longer restrict the number of refugees allowed to enter the U.S., a huge break from what President Trump promised on the campaign trail last year.
Organizations that help refugees resettle in the U.S. were informed about an abrupt change to allow a level of refugees that would be “unconstrained by the weekly quotas that were in place,” according to an email State official Jennifer Smith sent to groups on Thursday.
Instead of 830 refugees allowed for admission each week, more than 1,500 people could begin entering the country per week starting in June.
Congress recently passed a spending bill that limited funding for the State Department’s refugee resettlement program, though it’s not clear if there will be a shortage of funding available for the increasing number of refugees.
The White House has not issued a statement about the change.
