Trump allows refugee admissions to resume with new screening

Even with the refugee ban lifted, admissions are expected to be far lower than in recent years.

Trump last month capped refugee admissions at 45,000 for the year that started Oct. 1, a significant cut from the 110,000 limit put in place a year earlier by President Barack Obama. The actual number admitted this year could be lower than 45,000, since the cap sets a maximum limit, not a minimum.

In a separate action Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case about the refugee ban. An order from the justices wipes away a lower court ruling that found problems with the refugee ban and with a temporary pause on visitors from six mostly Muslim countries. A new travel policy that applies to six countries with Muslim majorities already has been blocked by lower courts.

The limits on refugees were in addition to Trump’s broader “travel ban” on people from several countries. Courts have repeatedly blocked that policy, but largely left the temporary refugee policy in place.

Trump has made limiting immigration a centerpiece of his administration’s efforts to safeguard U.S. national security. Besides the travel ban, which initially targeted a handful of Muslim-majority nations, the president rescinded an Obama-era executive action protecting immigrants brought to the country as minors from deportation. He has also vowed to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

During the presidential campaign, Trump pledged to “stop the massive inflow of refugees” and warned that terrorists were smuggling themselves into naive countries by posing as refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.

“Thousands of refugees are being admitted with no way to screen them and are instantly made eligible for welfare and free health care, even as our own veterans, our great, great veterans, die while they’re waiting online for medical care that they desperately need,” Trump said last October.

Trump has said the best way to help refugees is to keep them closer to their home countries.

Article Appeared @https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/24/trump-refugee-ban-ends-new-screening-rules-coming

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