--- title: "US refugee admissions fall to lowest level in 25 years under Trump" publication: "MediaBias News" url: "https://mediabias.news/politics/us-refugee-admissions-fall-to-lowest-level-in-25-years-under-trump" api: "https://mediabias.news/api/v1/stories/us-refugee-admissions-fall-to-lowest-level-in-25-years-under-trump" markdown: "https://mediabias.news/politics/us-refugee-admissions-fall-to-lowest-level-in-25-years-under-trump.md" audio: "https://mediabias.news/api/audio/us-refugee-admissions-fall-to-lowest-level-in-25-years-under-trump" category: "Politics" area: "United States" published: "2026-08-18T11:05:37.491Z" source_reported: "2026-08-18T09:10:17.000Z" updated: "2026-08-18T11:05:37.491Z" trust_score: 62 critic_score: 77 hype_score: 30 assessment_type: "coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis" fact_check_status: "not-performed" coverage_measured: "2026-08-18T12:18:24.325Z" --- # US refugee admissions fall to lowest level in 25 years under Trump *South Africans now make up nearly all arrivals after policy shift prioritising Afrikaners* **Scores for the source reporting** (0-100, assessing the original journalism this article was written from, not this write-up): - Trust 62 of 100, higher is better. Figures are sourced from State Department data and UNHCR, with origins clearly stated. - Craft 77 of 100, higher is better. Provides context for the decline and clear specific data, but includes no quoted individuals. - Hype 30 of 100, lower is better. Headline stresses the drop, yet the article remains measured and data‑focused. Scored by MediaBias News; method at https://mediabias.news/methodology. **The short version** - The US admitted 10,258 refugees in the first ten months of fiscal 2026, down from 38,102 in fiscal 2025, as reported by Pew Research Center. - The refugee admissions ceiling for fiscal 2026 is 17,500, the lowest since the turn of the century, according to the US State Department. - South Africans accounted for nearly all refugee admissions in fiscal 2026, following an executive order prioritising Afrikaners, Pew Research Center reported. - In 2025, the US admitted fewer refugees than Canada and Australia, UNHCR data showed. The United States admitted 10,258 refugees in the first ten months of fiscal year 2026, which ends on 30 September. That is less than a third of the 38,102 admitted in fiscal 2025, and less than a tenth of the 100,034 admitted in fiscal 2024. The figures come from US State Department data analysed by Pew Research Center. The Trump administration set the refugee admissions ceiling for fiscal 2026 at 17,500, the lowest since the turn of the century. At the current rate, admissions will not reach that ceiling. Nearly all of the 10,258 refugees admitted so far this fiscal year are from South Africa. Before fiscal 2025, South Africans had never been among the top origin groups for US refugee admissions. The shift follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in 2025, which prioritised resettling Afrikaners, an ethnic group descended from Dutch, German and French colonial settlers in South Africa. The order stated that the group faced "government-sponsored race-based discrimination" in South Africa, including the seizure of farms owned by White South Africans. Those claims have been disputed. In 2025, the US admitted about 11,500 refugees, fewer than Canada’s 39,000 and Australia’s 19,000, according to UNHCR data. The US had been a world leader in refugee resettlement since the Second World War. ## What the coverage left out No right-rated outlet ran this story at all. None of the left-rated digests mentioned the executive order prioritising Afrikaners, the near-exclusive admission of South Africans in fiscal 2026, or the US falling behind Canada and Australia in refugee admissions in 2025. ## Who covered it Shares of the 8 covering outlets with a published leaning rating: - Left: 88% (7) - Centre: 12% (1) - Right: 0% (0) 2 of 10 covering outlets carried no usable leaning rating and were excluded from those percentages. Coverage measured 2026-08-18T12:18:24.325Z. **Coverage watch:** developing. Checked 2 times; 0 checks found a material change. Most recently checked 2026-08-18T12:30:11.382Z. ## How the sides framed it ### Left - All five left-rated digests led on the record-low refugee admissions under the Trump administration. They carried the figures for fiscal 2026 and the comparison with fiscal 2025, as well as the admissions ceiling of 17,500. None of the digests mentioned the executive order prioritising Afrikaners or the near-exclusive admission of South Africans in fiscal 2026. ### Centre - The centre-rated report by Pew Research Center led on the sharp drop in refugee admissions during Trump’s second term. It carried the fiscal 2026 figures, the 17,500 ceiling, and the comparison with previous years. It also reported the executive order prioritising Afrikaners, the near-exclusive admission of South Africans, and the US falling behind Canada and Australia in refugee admissions in 2025. - Pew Research Center quoted the executive order’s description of "government-sponsored race-based discrimination" against Afrikaners in South Africa. It also noted that the claims in the order have been disputed. The report included public opinion data showing that 36% of Americans said it was extremely or very important for the US to take in refugees, while 24% said it was not too or not at all important. ### Right No separate framing summary. **Provisional coverage gap:** right. The watch is not closed, so this is not yet a settled blindspot finding. ## Factuality profile of the covering outlets These are published factuality ratings of the outlets, not a verdict on whether this story or its claims are true. - high: 5 - unknown: 2 - veryHigh: 3 ## Verification scope This page compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It is not a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true. ## Original reporting this was written from - [Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/08/18/repub/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [Haberler](https://haberler.com/guncel/abd-de-trump-in-ikinci-doneminde-multeci-kabulunde-20154544-haberi) — Sharp Drop in Refugee Admissions in the US. - [Wisconsin Examiner](https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/08/17/repub/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [Michigan Advance](https://michiganadvance.com/2026/08/17/repub/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [Dailyfly - Lewis Clark Valley News](https://dailyfly.com/2026/08/17/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [washingtonstatestandard.com](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/08/17/repub/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low • Washington State Standard - [Source New Mexico](https://sourcenm.com/2026/08/17/repub/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [Louisiana Illuminator](https://lailluminator.com/2026/08/17/repub/refugee-admissions) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [Stateline](https://stateline.org/2026/08/17/refugee-admissions-on-track-to-hit-record-low) — Refugee admissions on track to hit record low - [Pew Research Center](https://pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/08/17/refugee-admissions-to-the-us-are-dropping-sharply-in-trumps-second-term) — Refugee admissions to the U.S. are dropping sharply in Trump’s second term ## Questions **How many refugees did the US admit in fiscal 2026?** The US admitted 10,258 refugees in the first ten months of fiscal 2026, down from 38,102 in fiscal 2025. The admissions ceiling for the year is 17,500, the lowest since the turn of the century, as reported by Pew Research Center. **Why are most US refugee admissions from South Africa?** Nearly all US refugee admissions in fiscal 2026 are from South Africa after an executive order by President Donald Trump prioritised resettling Afrikaners. The order cited "government-sponsored race-based discrimination" against the group, though those claims have been disputed. **How does US refugee intake compare to Canada and Australia?** In 2025, the US admitted about 11,500 refugees, fewer than Canada’s 39,000 and Australia’s 19,000, according to UNHCR data. The US had been a world leader in refugee resettlement since the Second World War. --- MediaBias News — https://mediabias.news. Reproduced from https://mediabias.news/politics/us-refugee-admissions-fall-to-lowest-level-in-25-years-under-trump. Please cite as: MediaBias News, "US refugee admissions fall to lowest level in 25 years under Trump", https://mediabias.news/politics/us-refugee-admissions-fall-to-lowest-level-in-25-years-under-trump