The Trump administration announced it will cap refugee admissions at 7,500 for the 2026 fiscal year, according to a notice published Thursday in the Federal Register. Most of those admitted will reportedly be white South Africans.
This marks a dramatic drop from the Biden administration, which regularly accepted around 100,000 refugees a year, and represents the lowest number of refugees to be admitted since the 1970s, when the cap was 17,000. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic under the first Trump administration, the United States accepted at least 11,000 refugees per year.
The administration also announced a major bureaucratic shift — transferring refugee resettlement duties from the State Department to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at the Department of Health and Human Services. This is a sharp break from the traditional process, as the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration has historically overseen refugee coordination with U.S. embassies worldwide.
Officials said the changes aim to ensure refugee resettlement is conducted “in a manner that serves the national interest, promotes efficient use of taxpayer dollars, protects the integrity of the United States immigration system, and supports refugees in achieving early economic self-sufficiency and assimilation into American society.”
The restructuring follows a July layoff at the State Department that gutted much of its refugee management bureau. ORR — which has mainly administered shelters for migrants, including unaccompanied minors — will now oversee partnerships with public and private organizations to resettle refugees and manage their funding.
Supporters of the policy argue it aligns with President Trump’s longstanding promise to prioritize national interest and cultural compatibility when selecting refugees.
They point to rising global migration pressures and limited resources as justification for a tighter, more focused approach. Critics, however, call the decision racially selective and politically motivated, accusing the administration of abandoning America’s humanitarian legacy in favor of ideological goals.
This decision comes amid broader immigration reforms by the Trump administration. Earlier this year, the White House ended several Biden-era humanitarian parole programs that had granted temporary legal status to Afghans, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. Officials have also hinted that similar programs benefiting Salvadoran and Honduran migrants could soon be rolled back.
By setting the lowest refugee cap in modern history and restructuring how resettlement is managed, the Trump administration is clearly signaling a deeper, more restrictive shift in U.S. immigration philosophy — one focused less on global humanitarian outreach and more on national interest, cultural cohesion, and economic self-sufficiency.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
