Donald Trump has cut refugee admissions to America to a record low

FOR DECADES, America resettled more refugees than the rest of the world put together. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2016 the United States resettled 96,900 people fleeing persecution, war or other violence; other countries admitted 92,400. But under President Donald Trump, America has become far less welcoming. Last year it took in only 22,900 refugees, 5,200 fewer than neighbouring Canada, which has a population only one-tenth as big.

Mr Trump wants to cut the numbers further still. On November 2nd he approved a plan to reduce the number of refugees let into America to 18,000 for the year to September 30th 2020—the lowest since the country’s current refugee programme was created in 1980. This is the third time Mr Trump has lowered the cap. In September 2017 he reduced the limit set by Barack Obama, his predecessor, from 110,000 to 45,000. A year later he cut the figure to 30,000.

A recent report by the Pew Research Centre notes that the number of refugees admitted has fluctuated with world events and American priorities. In the programme’s earliest years—when the cap exceeded 200,000—most refugees came from Asia, notably Vietnam. In the early 1990s over 100,000 a year were admitted, many from the former Soviet Union. Admissions were curbed after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, but still (just) exceeded the total for the rest of the world. They rebounded thereafter, with Iraq and Myanmar among the main countries of origin. Mr Obama raised the limit to its highest since the mid-1990s.

The Trump administration has defended its cuts on the grounds that refugees pose “enormous security challenges” to the country (even though they are vetted by the Department of Homeland Security before they arrive). Officials also argue that federal resources would be better spent dealing with the influx of asylum-seekers crossing America’s southern border (asylum-seekers ask for protection once they are in America, whereas refugees do so from a third country). Critics point out, however, that thousands of refugees are being turned away who have already been screened and vetted. In October, according to CNN, the American government cancelled some 500 flights for refugees who had already been approved to enter the country.

As far as the world’s refugees are concerned, the timing of the cuts to America’s refugee programme could not be much worse. According to UNHCR, the number of refugees fleeing violence and persecution around the world has risen to more than 70m, the highest since the second world war.