BALTIMORE, Nov. 4, 2019 – Late Friday night, the president signed the Fiscal Year 2020 Presidential Determination, setting the cap for refugee arrivals at the lowest level in U.S. history – 18,000. World Relief, the National Association of Evangelicals’ humanitarian arm and a refugee resettlement agency, remains dedicated to their commitment to serve and protect those seeking refuge in the U.S.

“While we’re grateful to the administration for putting back into motion the refugee arrival processes that have stalled for a whole month, we continue to advocate resettlement levels commensurate with the global need,” said Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief. “We will continue to serve those in our care with joy, but we mourn the lives who will not find a haven from the many global conflicts as a result of this reduction in the refugee ceiling.”

Due to the delay in signing the Presidential Determination, October 2019 marked the first month in nearly 30 years in which zero refugees were resettled, according to World Relief’s records. The previous average refugee arrivals for the last five Octobers by all refugee agencies have been 4,945.

World Relief CEO Tim Breene, commented: “We remain concerned for the persecuted religious minorities who will not be allowed into the U.S. in FY 2020. From 2016-2019, the number of Christian refugees resettled from 50 countries on the Open Doors USA World Watch List plummeted by 64.8%. We believe the cap’s 5,000 reserved spots in 2020 for persecuted religious minorities grossly underestimates the global need and forfeits the U.S.’s urgent responsibility to provide global leadership in this area.”

For more information about how you can help, World Relief’s refugee resettlement work and other projects, visit worldrelief.org.

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