FY2021 Refugee Ceiling and Allocations

FY2021 Refugee Ceiling and Allocations

INSIGHTi
FY2021 Refugee Ceiling and Allocations
November 3, 2020
On October 28, 2020, President Donald Trump issued the Presidential Determination setting the FY2021
refugee ceiling at 15,000. The refugee ceiling is the maximum number of refugees that can be admitted to
the United States in a given fiscal year. The Presidential Determination is typical y issued before the start,
or in the first week, of a new fiscal year. Refugees cannot be admitted to the United States until the
Presidential Determination for that fiscal year has been issued. From October 1, 2020, until the issuance
of the FY2021 Presidential Determination, no refugees could be admitted to the United States.
The FY2021 refugee ceiling is the lowest in the 40-year history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
(USRAP). The Trump Administration has reduced the refugee ceiling each year, setting it at 45,000 for
FY2018, 30,000 for FY2019, and 18,000 for FY2020. These ceilings are much lower than in previous
years. Actual refugee admissions in FY2020, which were negatively impacted by the Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, totaled 11,814.
The refugee provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) al ow for the admission of a refugee
who is “of special humanitarian concern to the United States” and satisfies other criteria. The INA defines
a refugee, in main part, as “any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality … and
who is unable or unwil ing to return to, and is unable or unwil ing to avail himself or herself of the
protection of, that country because of persecution or a wel -founded fear of persecution on account of
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” The Department
of State’s (DOS’s) Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) coordinates and manages
USRAP. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS's) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) adjudicates refugee cases.
The INA authorizes the President to set the annual refugee ceiling after “appropriate consultation”
between Administration officials and members of the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate
Judiciary Committee. As part of the annual consultation process, the INA requires the President to report
to the committees on the “foreseeable number of refugees who wil be in need of resettlement” and the
“anticipated allocation of refugee admissions.” The Administration is further required to provide “a
description of the number and al ocation of refugees to be admitted,” among other specified information.
DOS, DHS, and the Department of Health and Human Services jointly issue an annual report to fulfil
these requirements.
The Administration’s report on Proposed Refugee Admissions for FY2021 explains the decision to set the
refugee ceiling at 15,000 by referencing the separate asylum system and the COVID-19 pandemic: “This
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proposed refugee admissions ceiling reflects the continuing backlog of over 1.1 mil ion asylum-seekers
who are awaiting adjudication of their claims inside the United States, and it accounts for the arrival of
refugees whose resettlement in the United States was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Regarding the impact of the pandemic, the report states:
Due to travel restrictions in and out of refugee processing sites worldwide, USRAP suspended
refugee arrivals from March 19 to July 29, 2020 except for emergency cases. USRAP resumed
general refugee arrivals July 30, 2020 with additional health measures specified by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, reduced flight availability due to the general
decrease in demand for international travel meant a slow pace of refugee resettlement in the United
States through the rest of FY 2020.
Prior to FY2020, the annual Presidential Determination provided a worldwide refugee ceiling and
regional al ocations. For example, the FY2019 Presidential Determination set a worldwide refugee ceiling
of 30,000 and the following regional al ocations: Africa (11,000), East Asia (4,000), Europe and Central
Asia (3,000), Latin America/Caribbean (3,000), and Near East/South Asia (9,000).
The FY2021 Presidential Determination sets a worldwide refugee ceiling (of 15,000). Like the FY2020
Presidential Determination, it does not al ocate the ceiling by region. Instead, it sets al ocations by
“population of special humanitarian concern” (see Table 1).
Table 1. Allocation of Refugee Admissions for FY2021
Population of Special Humanitarian Concern
Allocation
Refugees who have been persecuted or have a wel -founded fear of
5,000
persecution based on religion. This includes refugees eligible for U.S.
resettlement under the Lautenberg and Specter Amendments, which apply
to certain religious minorities who are or were nationals of an independent
state of the former Soviet Union, one of the Baltic states, or Iran.
Iraqi refugees with certain U.S. ties.
4,000
Refugees who are nationals or habitual residents of El Salvador, Guatemala,
1,000
or Honduras.
Other refugees in the fol owing groups:
5,000

Refugees who are referred to USRAP by a U.S. embassy in any
location.

Refugees who qualify for family reunification access to USRAP or
who are beneficiaries of fol owing-to-join petitions filed by
refugee family members in the United States.

Refugees in Australia, Nauru, or Papua New Guinea who are
referred to USRAP under an arrangement between the United
States and Australia.

Refugees who are nationals or habitual residents of Hong Kong,
Venezuela, or Cuba.

Refugees who were approved for U.S. resettlement and ready to
travel to the United States as of September 30, 2019.
Total
15,000
Source: White House, Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021.
The FY2021 al ocation categories are similar to the FY2020 categories. Both years include al ocations for
the first three categories in Table 1 (i.e., cases involving religious persecution, Iraqis, and persons from
Central America’s Northern Triangle). There are differences between the FY2020 and FY2021
Presidential Determinations in the “other refugees” category. For example, the FY2020 “other refugees”

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category did not include refugees from Hong Kong, Venezuela, or Cuba. For FY2020, the “other
refugees” category had both the largest al ocation (7,500) and the greatest number of actual admissions
(6,091).

Author Information

Andorra Bruno

Specialist in Immigration Policy

Disclaimer
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