President Donald Trump faced a deadline of Oct. 1 to make a decision on the refugee cap, and his advisers were divided on the issue. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Trump to set refugee cap at 45,000

President Donald Trump will limit the number of refugees entering the United States in the next fiscal year to 45,000, the lowest level in decades, according to three administration officials.

The president faced a deadline of Oct. 1 to make a decision on the refugee cap, and his advisers were divided on the issue.


The State Department recommended that Trump embrace a ceiling on refugees of 50,000. But the Department of Homeland Security had previously raised concerns that it didn’t have the capacity to process 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2018, citing the backlog of asylum applications. The department instead argued for a 40,000-refugee cap.

White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, aggressively pushed for a cap well below 50,000, the administration officials said.

Refugee advocates had called for a cap of at least 75,000.

Before a decision can be finalized, the administration needs to consult with members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to explain its reasoning for the new cap. But a person familiar with the issue said that had not yet happened as of Tuesday afternoon.

The cap will be lower than the 50,000-refugee limit Trump attempted to set as part of the travel ban. And it pales in comparison to the 110,000 refugees former President Barack Obama hoped to allow into the country in fiscal year 2017.

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The cap would be the lowest since the program was established in 1980. But the actual number of refugees has sometimes fallen to lower levels, including dipping below 50,000 in four separate years during the George W. Bush administration. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, admissions fell below 30,000 in 2002 and 2003 and ranged from 40,000 to 50,000 in 2006 and 2007.

In 1980, the U.S. accepted more than 207,000 refugees and admissions during the early 1990s consistently topped 100,000. Nearly 85,000 refugees entered the U.S. in fiscal year 2016.

Foreign Policy and The Wall Street Journal reported news of the refugee ban figure earlier Tuesday.

A White House spokeswoman declined to comment.

Ted Hesson contributed to this story.

