Americans have historically been opposed to admitting large numbers of refugees from war-torn countries, and tepid public support for U.S. resettlement efforts has cooled even more in the past 15 months.
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in September 2015 showed Americans split on U.S. intentions to provide refuge for migrants fleeing from Syria and other countries with 51 percent approving of the decision and 45 percent disapproving. In October 2016, 54 percent of registered voters said the U.S. does not have a responsibility to accept refugees from Syria.
An executive order signed Jan. 27 by President Donald Trump suspended refugee admissions for 120 days while security procedures are reviewed but this is not the first time U.S. refugee admissions have been stopped. After the 2001 terrorist attacks the U.S. largely suspended refugee resettlement for three months while security measures were examined. Fewer than 27,000 refugee admissions were processed in 2002 but numbers have trended up since.
The U.S. admitted 84,995 refugees in the fiscal year ending in September 2016, the most in any year during the Obama administration.
An additional 31,143 refugees have been admitted to the U.S. from Oct. 1, 2016, through Jan. 24, 2017, including more than 1,136 refugee admissions since Trump became president Jan. 20. Previously the Obama administration had announced a goal of admitting 110,000 refugees in 2017 which would have been the highest number since 1994. Under Trump’s proposal 2017 admissions will likely decline from 110,000 to 50,000.
Congo tops list
Last year the highest number of refugees to the U.S. (16,370) came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country plagued by a poor economy and violence. Refugees from Syria (12,587), Burma (12,347), Iraq (9,880) and Somalia (9,020) continue to come in higher numbers than from other nations.
Since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, about 3 million refugees have been resettled in the U.S. The process can take 18 to 24 months and includes a review of applications by the State Department and other federal agencies, in-person interviews, health screenings and, for many, cultural orientations.
Christian organizations that serve as National Voluntary Resettlement Agencies include Church World Services, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration and Refugee Services and World Relief. In fiscal year 2016 more than half of the 84,995 refugees to the U.S. (54 percent) were resettled in just 10 states including the top five resettlement states: California, Texas, New York, Michigan and Ohio. During the same period 120 refugees were resettled in Alabama, none of whom were from Syria, according to U.S. State Department data.
Also in 2016 the highest-ever number of Muslim refugees entered the U.S., according to an analysis of data from the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center.
Nearly 39,000 Muslim refugees entered the U.S. in fiscal 2016, 46 percent of refugee admissions. Christians accounted for 44 percent of refugees admitted. It was the first year Muslim refugees outnumbered Christians since 2006, when a large number of Somali refugees entered the U.S.
Historically Christian refugees have far outnumbered Muslim refugees. From fiscal years 2002 to 2016, the U.S. admitted 399,677 Christian refugees and 279,339 Muslim refugees, meaning 46 percent of all refugees who have entered the U.S. during this time have been Christian while 32 percent have been Muslim.
International events, particularly uprisings against Communist rule in countries around the world, have greatly influenced the total number of refugees coming to the U.S. in past decades.
In each case a majority of the American public expressed disapproval of the decision to resettle refugees in the U.S.
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