The U.S. Has Only Admitted 11 Syrian Refugees This Year

Before the United States took military action against regime-targets in the wake of Syria's suspected chemical attack in Douma, President Trump justified the strikes by saying "this is about humanity, and it cannot be allowed to happen". Despite those words, questions are being raised about how committed the U.S. really is to Syria's civilians judging by its refugee intake so far this year.

According to State Department figures, the U.S. has only admitted 11 Syrian refugees so far in 2018. Towards the end of Obama's presidency in 2016, 15,479 Syrian refugees were resettled and that number fell sharply to 3,024 in 2017. Last September, Trump capped annual U.S. refugee admissions at just 45,000, the lowest number requested by any president in over thirty years.