On Monday (September 17, 2018), the Trump administration announced that, in the next fiscal year, it will cut the number of immigrant refugees who are allowed into the US to 30,000, the smallest figure in over 38 years.
The cap was 45,000 in the 2018 fiscal year, which ends on 30 September. It was already the lowest number since the State Department started keeping refugee data in 1980, but that ceiling was not met, and around 21,000 immigrant refugees were allowed into the country. Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, made the announcement, adding that over 280,000 asylum seekers will inundate the US this year.
The limit on immigrant refugees has been a source of friction between the Department of Homeland Security and White House officials appointed by President Donald Trump, with State Department officials who believe that diplomacy would be better promoted with a higher figure. Two Trump administration officials told NBC News that much tighter vetting procedures had limited the number of immigrant refugees likely to enter the US in a year and that the figure of 30,000 for the 2019 fiscal year was also unlikely to be met.
On Monday, Pompeo told reporters that the restriction to 30,000 immigrant refugees would ensure that proper vetting could be carried out in the name of national security.