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1 [1] (July 28, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/goveuyh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: informing the egis ative debate s nee 1914 July 28, 2026 U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in FY2025 and FY2026 The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is in uncharted territory. It has been suspended since late January 2025. Under the suspension, only refugees who qualify for an exception are being admitted to the United States. The refugee ceiling (the maximum number of refugees that can be admitted) for FY2026 is currently 17,500, the lowest in the history of the USRAP. As of June 30, 2026, FY2026 refugee admissions totaled 7,730. Figure 1 shows annual refugee ceilings and admissions since FY1980, when the first refugee ceiling was set. USRAP Suspension On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued EO 14163, Realigning the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. In the EO, the President stated that entry into the United States of refugees under the USRAP would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. He said he was therefore directing that refugee entry be suspended, subject to exceptions, until he determined that the resumption of the USRAP was in the national interest. The exceptions language in the EO provides that the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit aliens [foreign nationals] to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the entry of such aliens as refugees is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States. EO 14163 was followed in early February 2025 by EO 14204, Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa. This EO directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Figure I. Annual Refugee Ceilings and Admissions Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination. Annual Refugee Ce ngs The Refugee Act of 1980 added a new Section 207 to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) on the admission of refugees, codified, as amended, at 8 U.S.C. §1157. It also added a definition of the term refugee to the INA, which states, in brief, that a refugee is a person who is typically outside their country of nationality and is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Under the INA, the President is responsible for setting a refugee ceiling before the beginning of a new fiscal year after appropriate consultation with Congress. Appropriate consultation is defined in the INA, in part, as discussions in person by designated Cabinet-level representatives of the President with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committees. (There is no statutory requirement, however, that the President's proposal receive congressional approval.) Following consultations with Congress, the President issues a presidential determination setting and allocating the refugee ceiling for the upcoming fiscal year. For FY2025, as for FY2022 through FY2024, President Biden set the refugee ceiling at 125,000 (Figure 1) and, in keeping with historical practice, allocated the refugee numbers for these years by worldwide region. For FY2026. President Trump initially set the refugee ceiling at 7,500. He directed that these admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa pursuant to EO 14204, and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands. - - - Ceiling Admissions *Total FY2026 admissions notyet ava able 250,000 200,000 150,000 100U..Deatmn,000ae Bra of Pouain Reues ndMgain I DO CyI I FNY1980 FY1965 FY1990 FY 19DS FY'2000 FY200s FY2C010 FY2015 FY2C02 FY2025 Sources: CRS presentation of data from presidential determinations and emergency presidential determinations on refugee admissions; and from U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.