With lawsuits pending, Trump moves to cut refugee admissions
US President Donald Trump is moving to significantly reduce the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States, even as his bid to temporarily suspend admissions is stalled in the courts. The latest effort comes through Trump's federal budget proposal, which calls for a 25 percent cut in funds for resettling refugees on American soil.
If approved by Congress, the 2018 budget blueprint would lower overall refugee funding to $2.7 billion from $3.1 billion—a 13 percent drop. That includes US contributions to international aid groups helping refugees in other countries.
But the funds specifically earmarked for US refugee admissions would face a steeper reduction, to $410 million from $544.7 million as recently as 2016. Figures for the current fiscal year, which ends in September, aren't available yet.
The budget request also eliminates the separate emergency refugee and migration funds that Congress allocated $50 million to in the 2017 appropriations bill. Spending for such programs would be consolidated into the broader refugee account, meaning less cash could be available for new refugee crises.
