The number of Christian refugees admitted into the US has dropped more than 50% under Donald Trump, as his harsh immigration policies extend even to a group of people he promised to protect.

An analysis of US state department data shows a fall in US support for these refugees ahead of the department’s first-of-its-kind conference on religious liberty, the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, on Wednesday.



There was no explicit mention of refugees in the prepared schedule for the three-day meeting, though one session was scheduled to discuss the “needs of displaced minorities”.



“There will be a range of religious freedom issues discussed at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, including support and care to victims of religious violence or persecution, and advocacy and assistance for displaced religious minority communities,” a state department official said in a email to the Guardian.

The Trump administration capped refugee admissions for the 2018 fiscal year at a record low of 45,000 refugees, but with only three months left of the fiscal year, only 36% of that target has been admitted, according to state department data. From 1 October 2017 to 30 June 2018, the US admitted 16,230 refugees.

Trump targeted the refugee program on the campaign trail, and in office has added extra security vetting to an already rigorous vetting process. In October 2017, refugee admissions were halted for 90 days for people fleeing “high-risk” countries.

For Christians, refugee admissions have shrunk to 10,955 in the first nine months of the fiscal year that began on 1 October 2017. In the same period from October 2016 to 30 June 2017, more than 23,000 Christians were admitted.

The drop in Christian admissions is a shift from the promises Trump made in his first week in office to help Christian refugees more than previous administrations.

In January 2017, Trump told the Christian Broadcasting Network it was “at least very tough” for Christian refugees to enter the US and claimed it was much easier for Muslims to enter in comparison.

“If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians,” Trump said. “And I thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them.”

He did not provide evidence that the two groups were treated differently.

Christians now make up the largest share of refugee admissions for any religious group, at 67% of the refugees allowed in. But the number of Christian refugees admitted still falls far short of previous years.

The number of Muslim refugees has fallen ever farther, from more than 21,459 from the first nine months of the 2017 fiscal year to 2,421 in the first nine months of the 2018 fiscal year.

Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) urged the US to increase refugee admissions, highlighting that the legal definition of refugee includes people fleeing persecution based on religion, as well as race, nationality, politics, or membership in a particular social group.

“The consequences of a failure to return to robust refugee admissions are immeasurable and far reaching in terms of those refugees left behind, families awaiting reunification with their loved ones here in the US, refugee-hosting countries who continue to take on more than their fair share, and waning US influence abroad,” the IRC said in a statement late on Monday.

The state department official said the US had admitted more refugees than any other country in the world since 1975 and had provided more than $8bn in humanitarian assistance worldwide. The official said: “The United States will continue to resettle the most vulnerable refugees, including those who have fled religious persecution, while prioritizing the safety and security of the American people.”