The United States said it would welcome its 10,000th Syrian refugee of this fiscal year on Monday, meeting a controversial target more than a month ahead of schedule.

The United States has traditionally been by far the world's most generous host for refugees but has been criticized by activists for moving too slowly to respond to the Syrian crisis, which has dragged on for more than five years.

President Barack Obama's opponents, including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile warn that Islamic State extremists could infiltrate the refugee ranks to gain entry to the United States.

The measly amount of Christian refugees, versus Muslims, has worried some on the right, with the conservative-leaning CNSNews reporting that just 47 Christian refugees had been admitted into the United States before the Monday mark, making the total less than one half of one percent.

Scroll down for video

Human rights activists and people from the Muslim community display placards during a demonstration in New York on December 10, 2015, in solidarity for Syrian and Iraqi refugees

New Yorkers hold signs in English and Arabic showing their support for the United States government's plan to bring Syrian refugees stateside

U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Alice Wells distributed gifts to Syrian children in April in Amman who will be resettled in the United States

Other data from the State Department Refugee Processing Center showed that 9,726 of the 9,902 refugees were Sunni Muslims – 98.2 percent – while another 20 identified as Shi’a Muslims and another 85 simply identified themselves as Muslims.

Republicans including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton have publicly expressed that the government prioritize the resettlement of Christian refugees.

Administration officials have largely ignored these calls, instead touting the tough process the country is using for entry.

'Our 10,000th Syrian refugee will arrive this afternoon,' National Security Advisor Susan Rice said in a statement, adding that the administration had met the goal 'more than a month ahead of schedule.'

Rice said the number represented a 'six-fold increase from the prior year,' and called it 'a meaningful step that we hope to build upon.'

She noted that refugee admissions represented only 'a small part of our broader humanitarian efforts in Syria and the region.'

'On behalf of the president and his administration, I extend the warmest of welcomes to each and every one of our Syrian arrivals, as well as the many other refugees resettled this year from all over the world.'

Frontline states like Lebanon and Jordan have been all but overwhelmed by Syrian refugees, with each home to hundreds of thousands of them, and the arrival of streams of unvetted migrants on Europe's shores provoked a crisis.

The Syrian refugees admitted to the United States are chosen from United Nations camps and then vetted by US security and intelligence agencies.

They are classified as 'vulnerable,' such as widows, the elderly and disabled.