President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive action at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, Jan. 25, 2017 which -- before court challenges held it up -- indefinitely blocked Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. and instituted a temporary halt on all refugees. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

As promised by the administration of President Donald Trump, the number of new refugees arriving in the U.S., especially Texas, is in sharp decline, says the Pew Research Center.

Portions of a controversial executive order by Trump cut by half the number of planned refugee arrivals this year. Refugee resettlement in Texas dropped nearly 70 percent from October to April of this year, or from 1,096 refugees in October to 353 in April.

"Texas has historically been at the top or near the top in refugees," said Phillip Connor, author of the Pew report released Thursday. Connor noted that drops have been seen in states around the country.

California, another leading destination state for refugees, saw a decline of about 60 percent from October to April, according to Pew data, which was based on an analysis of State Department reports. California had 500 fewer arrivals in April compared with October, Pew said.

President Trump's executive order called for a ceiling of 50,000 refugee arrivals this year. The previous administration under President Barack Obama had set a goal of 110,000.

This comes as the U.N. Refugee Agency says wars and persecution have driven people from their homes in record high numbers.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, speaks with Syrian refugee children, during a visit to the Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan, Sunday, May 21, 2017. Haley said the Trump administration wants to step up help for the millions of people displaced. Yet Nikki Haley's message is at odds with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda, his planned budget cuts and his hardline position on admitting refugees. (Raad Adayleh / AP)

Last fiscal year, about 85,000 refugees entered the U.S., the most of any year of the Obama administration. The top countries of origin were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Syria and Somalia.

Donna Duvin, director of the International Rescue Committee, said the new cap of 50,000 had an immediate impact in the Dallas area and caused disruption across a global network of multiple vetting processes.

“There were a couple of months when the arrivals dropped significantly,” Duvin said.

"Whenever you take a process of this magnitude off line, when the flow picks up, things are significantly slowed," Duvin said. The executive order's restrictions on six Muslim-majority countries remain tied up in the courts in multiple fights, she added.

The IRC, an official resettlement agency of the State Department, used to resettle about 1,000 refugees a year in the Dallas area. This year, that will shrink to about 750, she said. The contraction isn't as large as might have been expected in the area because of an increase in a refugee-like program for those from Afghanistan who assisted American forces during the war in their country. The official allotment of people allowed from there is not included in the cap, Duvin said.

Hala Halabi of the Islamic Circle of North America said the group's local resettlement efforts have slowed, too.

"In general, it is way less than before but it is not completely stopping," Halabi said.

Halabi, a 35-year-old immigrant from Syria who is now a U.S. citizen, says her group works hard at providing a strong welcome for refugee families.

Those volunteer efforts range from home-style cooking for arriving Iraqis or Syrians to providing fully stocked refrigerators in furnished apartments. Sometimes, refugee assistance can even include providing a used car, Halabi said. The group also helps with computer and English classes, she said.