Tracking every rollback, reversal, and overreach — and the path back to the America we know.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14163 realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program. The order suspends refugee admissions and rescinds the 2024 refugee admission ceiling. The immediate confirmed effect is cessation of refugee processing and admissions to the United States, affecting thousands of refugees in the admission pipeline.
On November 1, 2019, President Trump issued a Presidential Determination setting the refugee admission ceiling for fiscal year 2020 at 18,000 individuals. This reduced the number of refugees the United States would admit from the previous fiscal year's 30,000. The determination directly limited the number of refugees who could enter the United States during that fiscal year.
President Trump signed Executive Order 13888 on September 26, 2019, requiring the federal government to obtain written consent from state and local officials before resettling refugees in their jurisdictions. The order gave states and localities veto power over refugee placements. The confirmed direct impact was that states and municipalities could refuse refugee resettlement, effectively pausing or redirecting federal refugee admissions to willing jurisdictions.
On October 4, 2018, the Trump administration issued Presidential Determination 2018-24135, setting the refugee admission ceiling for fiscal year 2019 at 18,000 individuals. This represents a reduction from the 45,000 ceiling established for fiscal year 2018. The determination directly reduced the number of refugees admitted to the United States in the 2019 fiscal year.
Executive Order 13815 was signed on October 24, 2017, resuming the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program that had been suspended since January 2017, with additional security vetting procedures implemented. The order maintained enhanced screening protocols for refugee applicants. The confirmed effect was the resumption of refugee admissions to the United States following a nine-month halt, with refugees from all countries eligible to apply subject to the enhanced vetting requirements.
On September 29, 2017, President Trump signed Presidential Determination 2017-23140 setting the refugee admission ceiling for Fiscal Year 2018 at 45,000 individuals. This reduced the FY2017 ceiling of 110,000 by more than half. The determination directly reduced the number of refugees admitted to the United States during the fiscal year, from approximately 50,000 admitted in FY2017 to 22,491 admitted in FY2018.