The State Department announced it would be cutting the cap on the American refugee program from 30,000 to 18,000.
“President Trump is prioritizing the safety and security of the American people by making sure we do not admit more people than we can vet,” the Trump administration said Thursday.
The move comes as the immigration courts have a backlog of nearly 1 million cases. Asylum seekers compose a significant amount of the case backlog.
“The current burdens on the U.S. immigration system must be alleviated before it is again possible to resettle large number of refugees,” the State Department said. “Prioritizing the humanitarian protection cases of those already in our country is simply a matter of fairness and common sense.”
The new number is down from a high during the last year of former President Barack Obama’s administration, when the cap was at 110,000 refugees.
