The Impact of National Refugee Cuts on Franklin County, Ohio

Refugees are an international population of people who have been forcibly removed from their home countries due to of war, persecutions (most commonly racial, religious, and political), and natural disaster.

The list continues, but all reasonings stem from the same motives: to flee a life of danger. To be a refugee is to be in the direst of circumstances.

The United States has been a leading nation for refugee admissions since the start of the National Refugee Resettlement program in 1980; an allegiance to the humanitarian responsibility that is deeply rooted in American politics and culture.

Each year, a maximum number of refugees that may be admitted to the US is defined by the current presidential administration. That number is the national ceiling.

In January 2017, the Trump Administration took office and slashed the 110,000 ceiling by more than half, recapping admissions at 50,000. The ceilings have been subsequently lowered, and not been fulfilled.

The 2019 ceiling was the lowest it has been since the program was established in 1980. Admissions were capped at 30,000, a nearly 75% cut from the quota that the Obama administration established in 2017.