Every year the President of the United States determines how many refugees can enter this country. The law says he must consult Congress on this number.

But last week President Trump announced just 7,500 refugees would be admitted in the coming fiscal year – a 94% cut from the 125,000 cap set by President Joe Biden.

Sharif Aly leads the International Refugee Assistance Project - an organization that helps refugees and other immigrants navigate the legal process of resettlement. The International Refugee Assistance Project is also challenging Trump’s suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Aly joined Consider This host Juana Summers to discuss how this historic drop means for the US refugee resettlement system.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Jonaki Mehta, Connor Donevan and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Becky Brown and Simon-Laslo Janssen. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Trump is slashing the number of refugees. What does that mean?

Consider This from NPR

Trump is slashing the number of refugees. What does that mean?