…..and it is confirmed by their go-to commenter—Mark Hetfield of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society— who says of Trump’s ceiling that it is “lower than it’s been in history.”
But, what he doesn’t say is that even at 50,086 (the number this morning), that is not the lowest ADMISSIONS number in the history of the program as we pointed out here (and will show you below).
Here is Think Progress (John Podesta):
“We’ve reached a low point in U.S. history today with the Trump administration setting and enforcing a refugee admission ceiling which is lower than it’s been in history,” HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield told ThinkProgress in a phone interview Wednesday.
HIAS, a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian assistance and aid to refugees, has long helped refugees resettle in the United States. Hetfield was immensely displeased that at least one HIAS client, who was approved as a refugee, will be unable to come in despite having a grandmother in the country. Others will also see their flight reservations cancelled.
[….]
“We’re at least grateful the Supreme Court prevented Trump from fully implementing his mean spirited executive order and that refugees will [with] ties to US will continue to be admitted,” Hetfield said. “It’s an embarrassment for our country to be taking in so few refugees when the needs are so great.”
Think Progress goes on to perpetuate a massive misunderstanding claiming that countries like Turkey (Lebanon and Jordan) take in more refugees than does the rich (mean-spirited) US.
Those countries do not take refugees permanently (another thing that Think Progress will never tell its readers!)
Those countries would never let large numbers of other ethnic groups (Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis, Pakistanis, Palestinians etc.) become PERMANENT VOTING CITIZENS. In our refugee program (the largest in the world even at 50,000) we do, and so….
….we are the number one country in the world admitting refugees for life!
Let’s look at historically low admissions levels (see charts here).
There were 4 years when we admitted fewer than Trump’s 50,086:
FY02: 27,070
FY03: 28,117
FY06: 41,279
FY07: 48,281
And, since the SCOTUS is allowing refugees with “bona fide” relationships to enter above Trump’s 50,000 ceiling, here are some other years that might easily be surpassed before September 30th (the end of FY17):
FY87: 58,863
FY04: 52,858
FY05: 53,813
And these next two are THE Man’s (Obama’s years):
FY11: 56,424
FY12: 58,238
I’m guessing that Trump will, in the end, be admitting in the low 60,000s, close to the average for the last ten years. The big question is—what will he propose for FY18???