Trump administration sets refugee cap at 15,000, a new historic low

The proposed 2021 cap was denounced by humanitarian organizations and Democratic lawmakers.

In a media note sent less than an hour before the end of fiscal year 2020 on Wednesday, the State Department said it had informed Congress of the proposed cap and said the US “anticipates receiving more than 300,000 new refugees and asylum claims in Fiscal Year 2021.” However, the vast majority of those would be asylum cases.

“Of that number, up to 15,000 would be refugees admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and more than 290,000 would be individuals in new asylum cases,” the State Department note said.