The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees it admits into the country to 7,500 and they will mostly be white South Africans, a dramatic drop after the U.S. previously allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution from around the world.
The administration published the news Thursday in a notice on the Federal Register.
No reason was given for the numbers, which are a dramatic decrease from last year’s ceiling set under the Biden administration of 125,000. The Associated Press previously reported that the administration was considering admitting as few as 7,500 refugees and mostly white South Africans.
The memo said only that the admission of the 7,500 refugees during 2026 fiscal year was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
News from Trump’s trip to Asia:
Trump announces plans to lower tariffs on China: The president told reporters aboard Air Force One that the U.S. would lower tariffs implemented earlier this year as punishment on China for its selling of chemicals used to make fentanyl from 20% to 10%. That brings the total combined tariff rate on China down from 57% to 47%.Nuclear weapons testing: Trump appeared to suggest the U.S. will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China. Trump offered few details but made the announcement on social media minutes before he met with Xi.25 million metric tons of soy beans: China has agreed to purchase the substantial sum of soybeans from the U.S. annually as part of an agreement reached by its leaders, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.