President Donald Trump is expected to cut refugee admissions into the United States to 7,500 next year — a new low for the U.S. and half the previous record-setting low cap set during his first presidency.
The administration also is expected to limit most of the 2026 admissions to white Afrikaners from South Africa, The New York Times reported.
“A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unannounced plans for the refugee program, said the limit on admissions would be final only when the administration consulted with Congress, as the federal government is required by law to do each year.”
The Refugee Act of 1980 established the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to provide a structured system for humanitarian resettlement that requires the president to set annual admissions limits.
Under President Joe Biden, refugee limits were set at 125,000 per year from 2022 to 2025. His administration also reset the 2021 cap to 62,500 from Trump’s all-time-low of 15,000, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
But upon re-taking office in January, Trump immediately set out to ravage the nation’s immigration policies. His Jan. 20 executive order on refugees denigrated and suspended resettlement as a threat to national security and “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
A federal lawsuit was filed in February challenging the suspension of admissions and the revocation of Congressionally approved resettlement funds. A district judge subsequently ordered the admission of previously cleared refugees, and Pacito v. Trump remains under appeal before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
In the meantime, the administration began resettling Afrikaners in May after following Trump’s executive order describing the whites-only admissions policy as necessary to help South African “victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
“Upon re-taking office in January, Trump immediately set out to ravage the nation’s immigration policies.”
The president also tied the move to national security interests.
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” he said.
U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Alex Padilla of California were joined by U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Jamie Raskin of Maryland in protesting the administration’s failure to consult Congress on refugee admissions as required by law.
“Despite repeated outreach from Democratic and Republican Committee staff, the Trump administration has completely discarded its legal obligation, leaving Congress in the dark and refugees in limbo,” the legislators said.
The refugee resettlement program was established to be a “beacon of hope” to people attempting to escape violence and persecution in their home countries, they said in noting program’s suspension has continued since January.
“Nearly 130,000 people facing persecution abroad who have already passed the rigorous vetting requirements of our refugee program have been abandoned by this administration, left to languish in refugee camps around the world after being given the promise of safety and a new life in America.”
Immigration advocates expressed alarm that only 7,500 refugees may be admitted during the coming fiscal year and that most of those will be whites from South Africa.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah
“To drastically lower the admissions cap and concentrate the majority of available slots on one group would mark a profound departure from decades of bipartisan refugee policy rooted in law, fairness and global responsibility,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, a refugee resettlement group.
“We’re hearing from Afghan women’s rights activists, Venezuelan political dissidents, Congolese families, persecuted Christians and other religious minorities, all of whom now fear there is no room left for them in a system they trusted,” she added. “What refugee families need most is a pathway to protection that is consistent, principled and grounded in the promise that every life matters equally — not just the few who fit a favored profile.”
Following through on the record-low cap would threaten the effectiveness and integrity of the nation’s resettlement program, said Rick Santos, president of Church World Service
“Forty-five years ago, Republicans and Democrats came together to show the world that American ideals take precedence over party politics. In a fraction of that time, this administration has abandoned the program they created — and left thousands of already-approved refugees stranded overseas in increasingly dangerous conditions,” Santos said.
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