Press Release

Washington, D.C. –   On October 31, the Trump administration published its Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions (PD) in the Federal Register, which sets the refugee admissions ceiling at the historic and shameful low of 7,500 people. The PD also prioritizes the resettlement of Afrikaners (white South Africans) and those who have faced “unjust discrimination” –  at the expense of over 120,000 refugees who were already conditionally approved for resettlement as of January 20. The Welcome With Dignity Campaign unequivocally condemns this discriminatory decision, which will strand people seeking safety in precarious, dangerous circumstances while violating our moral and legal obligations – and the wishes of the American people – to offer safe haven to those fleeing from harm. 

With this decision, the U.S. government continues to turn its back on people seeking safety. But communities across the country—neighbors, parents, and families—still believe in the power and the necessity of welcome. According to recent polling data from Data for Progress and Refugee Advocacy Lab, nearly 70% of voters say they support the country’s refugee program, and over 60% of voters believe the government should allow people to seek asylum at the border.  The Welcome With Dignity Campaign joins our 129 members, and communities across the country, in redoubling our commitment to people seeking safety around the world, and we urge national, state, and local leaders to join us in calling on the U.S. government to honor its obligations and fully restore the U.S. resettlement program.  

“This determination makes it painfully clear that the Trump administration values politics over protection,” said Sharif Aly, President of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). “By privileging Afrikaners while continuing to ban thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicizing a humanitarian program. It is egregious to exclude refugees who completed years of rigorous security checks and are currently stuck in dangerous and precarious situations. In fact, the number of approved and vetted refugees who had confirmed travel plans to resettle in the United States before the administration unlawfully suspended the refugee program is larger than the entire refugee program this year. The thousands of individuals we’ve closed our doors to represent thousands of missed opportunities of people who could have strengthened a local community or economy. We will continue to fight until the government keeps its promise and admits people who have already been approved and are ready to rebuild their lives here.”

“The administration’s refugee resettlement goals are unserious and even worse, they are overtly racially biased,” said Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute. “At a time when the growing reality of human displacement around the world demands creativity and action, the United States is abandoning its leadership role on the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers.”

“Through both Democratic and Republican administrations, this bipartisan, public-private partnership has been a model of humanitarian leadership. Together, we have resettled millions of refugees, saved countless lives, and strengthened and enriched communities across the country,” said Erol Kekic, Chief Strategy Officer at Church World Service. “With today’s determination, the administration is going far further than it ever has before – not only to dismantle our humanitarian infrastructure but to undermine and corrupt the core moral principles upon which our work rests. Over 100,000 refugees who had been through years of vetting and were approved to come to the U.S. remain stranded. We cannot abandon them, and we call on this administration to immediately reverse course to preserve this country’s proud legacy of protecting those in harm’s way.”

“The Trump administration is decimating the refugee system that helps people fleeing violence and persecution — a system the U.S. helped create,” said Sarah Mehta, deputy director of policy and government affairs at the ACLU’s Equality Division. “By favoring white South Africans, the administration is politicizing and exploiting our refugee admissions program to further its racist policies against immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.”  

“Let’s call this what it is — white supremacy disguised as refugee policy,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “At a time when Black refugees from Haiti, Sudan, the Congo, and Cameroon are drowning at sea, languishing in detention, or being deported to death, the U.S. government has decided to open its arms to those who already enjoy global privilege. This is not just immoral — it’s anti-Blackness codified into federal policy.”

“As an asylee, I know what it means to have your life hang in the balance of policies set thousands of miles away,” said Fatima Saidi, director of We Are All America. “Each refugee cap is not just a policy; it is a life-or-death decision for families fleeing violence and persecution. Setting the admissions goal at 7,500 would be the lowest in history and a historic failure of America’s humanitarian tradition. Refugee resettlement is not charity; it is a promise we make to uphold dignity, protect human life, and honor the values our country was built on. To turn our back now is to abandon both people in need and our own moral leadership.” 

“At a time of unprecedented global need and hundreds of thousands of refugees already in the pipeline to be resettled, it is deeply disappointing to see that the United States will only welcome 7,500 people through our resettlement program next year,” said Kate Brick, Executive Director of the Refugee Advocacy Lab. “This record low not only is not only an abdication of our commitment to be a nation welcoming people seeking safety, it is a disservice to every community who has benefitted from resettling refugees, the families waiting for their loved ones to come, and the American economy, which is in dire need of people who want to start their lives in the U.S. and get to work providing for their families. We hope the administration will reconsider this position, and reopen the pathway to safety that is a point of pride among Americans across the country and across party lines.”

“This decision is a devastating abdication of the United States’ commitments to people fleeing persecution,” said Kate Jastram, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). “It leaves thousands of families whom we had promised protection stranded in situations where they face grave risks to their lives, while fast-tracking the resettlement of white South Africans. As this administration feigns concern for the ‘integrity’ of our refugee protection system, it is shamelessly dismantling resettlement and transforming a program that has long been a lifeline for vulnerable refugees into a tool to advance its white nationalist political agenda. We urge our leaders to demand the full restoration of a resettlement program guided by humanitarian principles and responsive to protection needs, not politics.”

“This decision, made without meaningful Congressional consultation, abandons the very spirit and intent of the Refugee Act of 1980 — a bipartisan law grounded in compassion, international responsibility, and moral leadership,” said Kristyn Peck, chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area. “Amid unprecedented displacement — with more than 123 million people forcibly displaced worldwide — this administration’s decision dismantles U.S. humanitarian leadership. By setting a cap shaped by politics rather than need, the administration rejects decades of bipartisan consensus that recognized refugee resettlement as both a moral duty and a reflection of American strength.” 

“The Presidential Determination released today is an intentionally discriminatory and racially selective misapplication of its purpose, which is to provide a lifesaving pathway for people who are fleeing persecution in search of safety,”  said Nili Yossinger, Executive Director of Refugee Congress. “Today, this administration is slamming the door on the world’s most vulnerable people while fast-tracking those who fit their preferred profile. This betrays our values and violates our legal commitments to the most at-risk. We will not accept it as a fait accompli. We call on Congress to immediately press the administration to reverse course and propose a PD that is reflective of the true intent and purpose of the refugee resettlement program, which has saved countless lives and strengthened our country for nearly half a century.”

“Shame on the Trump administration for setting such a historical low bar on refugee admissions into the United States, prioritizing white South Africans while shunning vast numbers of people of color fleeing persecution. Through numerous discriminatory policies, the administration has made clear that it has no interest in protecting people of color, women, or LGBTQ+ individuals fleeing violence,” said Margaret Cargioli, Directing Attorney of Policy and Advocacy of Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). “Its actions will keep families separated and leave human beings in need stranded – when instead, our nation could choose to welcome them with dignity and appreciate the enormous contributions that immigrants make to the United States.”

“Historically, our nation has prided itself on offering refuge to people in need of protection, and our communities have benefited from the positive contributions of the newcomers we have welcomed,” said Trudy Taylor Smith, Senior Administrator of Policy and Advocacy for Children’s Defense Fund-Texas. “This decision departs from that humanitarian precedent and leaves thousands of children and youth stranded with their families in dangerous situations where they lack access to nutritious food, educational opportunities, and the stability of a permanent home. Every child deserves to have their basic needs met and to experience safety and care so that they can play, grow, learn, thrive, and reach their full potential. The United States has the ability to offer this chance to children in refugee families around the world, but with this heartless decision, we are simply refusing to do so.”

“An America that closes its doors to asylum seekers is punishing not only the most vulnerable but also itself,” said Sergio Perez, Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “Our history shows we reap immeasurable benefits when we welcome children and adults who have no choice but to flee danger. The Trump Administration’s decision to favor one specific ethnic group of refugees while limiting all others is morally abhorrent and will exacerbate pain and suffering. We must not let it stand.”