[ti:Trump Plans to Cut US Refugee Admissions to Record Low]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]The Trump administration has proposed
[00:03.92]cutting the number of refugees the United States accepts each year.
[00:11.88]The administration informed Congress Wednesday
[00:16.28]that it plans to limit refugee admissions
[00:20.24]to 15,000 for fiscal year 2021, which began Thursday.
[00:29.36]It is the smallest number of refugee admissions
[00:33.80]that President Donald Trump
[00:36.04]has permitted since he took office in 2017.
[00:41.84]In the 2019-2020 fiscal year,
[00:45.92]the administration set a limit of 18,000 refugees.
[00:53.44]The new limit of 15,000 is the lowest level since Congress
[00:59.48]approved the refugee program in 1980.
[01:05.36]The yearly limits set during the presidency of Barack Obama
[01:10.60]were between 70,000 and 85,000.
[01:16.72]Under U.S. law, the president must give Congress
[01:21.08]a chance to study the administration's proposal.
[01:25.32]But the final decision is made by the president.
[01:30.00]In 2020, the United States accepted only about half of the 18,000 permitted
[01:38.12]before the State Department suspended refugee admissions
[01:43.12]because of the COVID-19 health crisis.
[01:48.44]In a statement, the State Department said the latest proposal
[01:53.44]aims to protect the "safety and well-being of Americans,
[01:59.44]especially in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic."
[02:06.28]Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration
[02:11.40]is prepared to continue the country's history of leading the world
[02:17.56]in providing a safe place for refugees.
[02:22.84]"We continue to be the single greatest contributor
[02:27.32]to the relief of humanitarian crisis all around the world,
[02:32.56]and we will continue to do so,"
[02:35.56]Pompeo told reporters while traveling in Rome.
[02:41.32]The latest proposal sets special allocations for refugees
[02:47.60]who suffered or fear persecution because of religion,
[02:52.36]as well as for refugees from Iraq who helped the United States.
[02:59.28]It also includes special consideration for refugees from El Salvador,
[03:05.84]Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Cuba, and Venezuela.
[03:13.32]Trump's main opponent in the November 3 presidential election, Joe Biden,
[03:19.92]has promised to raise refugee admissions to 125,000 a year if he is elected.
[03:29.00]However, Biden has not said how quickly he would raise the limit.
[03:35.48]The former vice president is the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
[03:41.96]Trump is the candidate of the Republican Party.
[03:47.12]Refugee rights groups say the program could take years to recover
[03:53.28]after years of reductions during Trump's presidency.
[03:58.28]Tens of thousands of refugees are in the pipeline for arrival to the United States,
[04:06.04]with many far along in the approval process.
[04:11.28]"We're talking about tens of millions of desperate families
[04:16.40]with no place to go and having no hope for protection in the near term,"
[04:23.36]said Krish Vignarajah. He heads the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service,
[04:30.92]a non-profit organization that helps resettle refugees in the United States.
[04:38.68]I'm Bryan Lynn.
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