Since
President Trump took office in January 2017, worldwide refugee admissions to the
United States have plummeted, even as the number of people fleeing conflict, persecution or human rights violations around the globe last year was the highest on record since World War II.
As the
White House continues to chip away at the U.S. refugee program — most recently proposing another historically low admissions ceiling of 18,000 for fiscal year 2020, along with an executive order to allow state and local governments to block refugees from resettling in their communities — displaced persons have seen diminishing opportunities to seek refuge in the U.S.
The only country from which the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. has increased significantly under the Trump administration isn’t even one of the UNHCR’s places “of concern”: Ukraine.