Trump slashes number of refugees allowed in U.S.

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump has cut the number of refugees accepted into the United States, with the State Department announcing Thursday only 18,000 will be welcomed over the next 12 months, down from the current limit of 30,000.

In 2016, during former President Barack Obama's last year in office, 110,000 refugees were allowed into the U.S. The State Department said many of the limited number of slots will be set aside for Iraqis who have worked with the U.S. military, persecuted people from Central America, and religious minorities. It will now be harder for people fleeing war to find a safe haven in the United States.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.