Despite constant obstruction by leftist judges and Congress, President Trump is doing his best to fulfill his campaign promise of curtailing refugees entering the U.S.
The number of refugees admitted to the United States was cut by nearly half in the first three months of the Trump administration compared with the final three months of the Obama presidency, reflecting the new president’s skepticism toward immigration.
Government statistics released Friday showed that more than 25,000 refugees were permitted to enter and reside in the United States at the end of the Obama administration. In the initial months under President Trump, the number fell to 13,000.
The statistics were released by the Department of Homeland Security, based on information supplied by the State Department.
Countries of origin were largely unchanged. In both periods, two-thirds of the arrivals came from five countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Myanmar.
Refugees from two of those countries — Syria and Somalia — would have been banned under Trump’s executive order against entries from certain Muslim-majority nations, but federal courts have blocked the order. Trump’s original order covered Iraqis as well, but he omitted Iraq from his revised order.