Overall, refugee admissions during the 365 full days since his inauguration at noon on January 20, 2017 have declined by 70 percent from the previous complete calendar year under the Obama administration.
From January 21, 2017 to January 20, 2018 (Trump Calendar Year 2017), a total of 29,620 refugees have been admitted to the United States, according to the State Department’s wrapsnet.org website, the source of the refugee admissions data used in this story.
In contrast, from January 21, 2016 to January 20, 2017, the last full calendar year of the Obama administration (Obama Calendar Year 2016), a total of 98,898 refugees were admitted to the United States.
The most compelling aspect of the refugee arrival data for President Trump’s first full calendar year is the dramatic drop in refugee arrivals from the seven countries identified as terrorist hotbeds (Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, and Libya) in Executive Order 13769 to whom the travel ban initially applied.
Refugee arrivals from those seven countries declined by 81 percent, from 45,114 in Obama Calendar Year 2016 to 8,475 in Trump Calendar Year 2017.