LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – The Trump administration has announced that it will drastically lower the number of refugees allowed to come to the U.S., which has some people in Louisville concerned about the impacts the decision could have locally.
President Donald Trump announced in late October that his administration would cap refugee admissions at 7,500 for the current fiscal year. The Biden administration had set that number at 125,000.
Duffy Trager, an immigration attorney with Trager Law in Louisville, called Trump’s record-low ceiling “drastic.”
“I took a look back when the caps were set in 1980,” he pointed out. “They were set for 50,000. The world population at that time was half of what it is now. So 7,500 is just a minuscule number for a population of 8 billion.”
Other Republican administrations had set higher ceilings for refugee admissions. In 1989, under President George H.W. Bush, the cap was 116,000, for example.
The Trump administration’s notice said the new ceiling “is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
Lisa DeJaco Crutcher, Catholic Charities of Louisville CEO, is critical of the decision, especially since President Trump had already halted refugee admissions when he took office in January.
“This is legitimately a humanitarian crisis,” she added. “The refugee camps are not less crowded. They have not become less crowded since Jan. 20, just because the U.S. has stopped helping people to get out of the camps.”
DeJaco Crutcher explained the number of people who are living in refugee camps displaced from their homelands right now is “enormous,” which is why she said it doesn’t make sense to limit the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the U.S.
“Refugees are a specific population that come to the U.S. through the United Nations, from refugee camps all around the world,” she explained. “They are subject to a very, very intense screening process. It’s two to three years that they go through. Refugees aren’t just legal immigrants. They’re invited. We choose them. From all the people who are displaced in the world, we give an opportunity to be resettled, which is intended as a permanent resolution.”
However, in this case, it’s white South Africans who’ll be given priority. Trager said the move doesn’t make sense to him.
“Not to speak to, you know, whether South African Afrikaners are deserving of these numbers, but there is not a civil war going on in South Africa right now,” he commented. “It is an industrialized nation, so there are many other places in the world where these numbers need to be given, and 7,500 is not even close to covering.”
Trager added the cut in admissions means many refugees in Louisville now won’t be able to reunite with their loved ones, some of whom were in line to come to the U.S.
“There’s approximately 128,000 people that have done what they were supposed to, were in line, went through the vetting and are waiting for their fair shot,” he said. “And they’ve sort of had the rug yanked out from under them, and that’s just really, really tragic.”
DeJago Crutcher agreed with Trager and emphasized refugees would also come to Louisville and contribute to the economy. She described the resettling process as an investment for the government.
“After 20 years, a refugee is paid for him or herself,” she explained. “And the longer you look at it, the more money the government is making off the tax revenue from having resettled these people into the community.”
Even though there may be less refugees coming to Louisville, DeJago Crutcher said Catholic Charities still has a lot of work to do with those refugees who are already here.
“Refugees are entitled under federal law to services for two to five years after they arrive,” she added. “And there are a whole lot of people here in Louisville who have come in the last two to five years who are still entitled to services.”
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