Fewer refugees arrive in U.S., with declines in 46 states
The number of refugees entering the United States each month has declined sharply so far in fiscal 2017, falling from 9,945 in October 2016 to 3,316 in April 2017.
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The number of refugees entering the United States each month has declined sharply so far in fiscal 2017, falling from 9,945 in October 2016 to 3,316 in April 2017.
The European Union, Norway and Switzerland received nearly 66,000 asylum applications from unaccompanied minor migrants (those younger than 18 applying without a parent or guardian) in 2016, a decline of nearly 40% from 2015’s record total but still well above the total of prior years, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency.
In 2016, European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland received more than 1.2 million asylum applications, below the record 1.3 million applications received in 2015.
The number of refugees from the six travel-restricted countries represents 32% of all refugees who have entered the U.S. since Trump took office.
More than 1,800 refugees from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen have resettled in the U.S. since a federal court judge suspended key parts of an executive order President Donald Trump signed on Jan. 27 that restricted travel from these seven nations.
The Trump administration’s executive order was a reminder that immigration has been a hotly contested issue in American politics at various times in both the 19th and 20th centuries.
A little over a third of the refugees admitted into the U.S. in fiscal 2016 were religious minorities in their home countries. Of those, 61% were Christians and 22% were Muslims.
Of the 84,995 refugees admitted to the United States in fiscal year 2016, the largest numbers came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Burma (Myanmar) and Iraq.
The Obama administration’s goal of receiving 110,000 refugees in fiscal 2017 is significantly higher than last year’s target of 85,000.
The country took in 84,995 refugees, the most since 1999. But where they settled varied widely, with some states taking in large numbers and others very few.
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