President Trump Sets Record-Low Refugee Admissions Ceiling for 2026
On October 31, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Determination setting the annual ceiling for refugee admissions at 7,500 for fiscal year 2026, the lowest in U.S. history. Since the Refugee Act of 1980 established the modern resettlement program, the annual refugee ceiling has averaged around 90,700, making this decision a drastic departure from more than four decades of bipartisan leadership on refugee protection.
This announcement represents a sharp break not only from every previous Republican and Democratic administration, but even from the prior Trump administration, which admitted approximately 129,400 refugees over its four-year term.
The combination of this record-low ceiling in the United States and limited resettlement opportunities worldwide means that thousands of people escaping war, persecution, and violence will remain without a path to safety when they need it most. More than 120,000 refugees who were already conditionally approved for U.S. resettlement as of January 20, 2025, now face indefinite uncertainty about if and when they may be able to travel to the U.S.
Additionally, the Presidential Determination states that the limited admissions slots will primarily be allocated to Afrikaners from South Africa. By reserving a large portion of the already drastically reduced resettlement slots for Afrikaners from South Africa, instead of those who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is reorienting the refugee program away from those at greatest risk.
While this historically low refugee admissions goal for 2026 means that significantly fewer refugees will be able to access resettlement to the U.S. as a critical life-saving solution, RefugePoint will continue to partner with refugees to access self-reliance opportunities as well as resettlement and other pathways to safety in countries around the world.
On October 31, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Determination setting the annual ceiling for refugee admissions at 7,500 for fiscal year 2026, the lowest in U.S. history. Since the Refugee Act of 1980 established the modern resettlement program, the annual refugee ceiling has averaged around 90,700, making this decision a drastic departure from more than four decades of bipartisan leadership on refugee protection.
This announcement represents a sharp break not only from every previous Republican and Democratic administration, but even from the prior Trump administration, which admitted approximately 129,400 refugees over its four-year term.
The combination of this record-low ceiling in the United States and limited resettlement opportunities worldwide means that thousands of people escaping war, persecution, and violence will remain without a path to safety when they need it most. More than 120,000 refugees who were already conditionally approved for U.S. resettlement as of January 20, 2025, now face indefinite uncertainty about if and when they may be able to travel to the U.S.
Additionally, the Presidential Determination states that the limited admissions slots will primarily be allocated to Afrikaners from South Africa. By reserving a large portion of the already drastically reduced resettlement slots for Afrikaners from South Africa, instead of those who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is reorienting the refugee program away from those at greatest risk.
While this historically low refugee admissions goal for 2026 means that significantly fewer refugees will be able to access resettlement to the U.S. as a critical life-saving solution, RefugePoint will continue to partner with refugees to access self-reliance opportunities as well as resettlement and other pathways to safety in countries around the world.
