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Facts

1.

People applying for refugee status in the United States usually must wait 18-24 months before their application is fully processed and a decision is made, leaving them in dangerous or unfamiliar situations while they wait.

2.

Trump has, year after year, lowered the refugee ceiling, making it the lowest it has ever been. In 2018, he capped refugee admissions at 45,000, and in 2019 that number was drastically reduced to just 30,000.

3.

Only 20 of 154 foreign born terrorists that have conspired against the United States have been refugees, although stereotypes associate many refugees with potential terrorism.

4.

America did not start accepting large numbers of Syrian refugees until 2015—years after the crisis began.

5.

The U.S. has admitted far more Christian refugees than Muslim refugees in recent years. Christians accounted for 79% of refugees who came to the U.S. in fiscal 2019. The U.S. admitted about 23,800 Christians, compared with about 4,900 Muslims and smaller numbers of other religious groups.

6.

Texas, Washington, New York and California resettled roughly a quarter of all refugees in fiscal 2019. Together, these states took in nearly 8,100 refugees. Other states that received at least 1,000 refugees include Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia and Michigan.

7.

Americans have been divided in recent years over whether the U.S. should accept refugees, with large differences by political party affiliation. In a May 2018 survey, for example, about half of Americans (51%) said the U.S. has a responsibility to accept refugees into the country, while 43% said it does not. Around three-quarters of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (74%) said the U.S. has this responsibility, compared with 26% of Republicans and Republican leaners. 

8.

Many refugees have trouble moving on from traumatic experiences and memories which negatively impact their mental health-one study found that after 5 years of tracking refugees from Southeast Asia, 70% retained stressful memories, and 60% were still homesick and worried about communication with family members remaining in Asia. 

9.

18% of 17 year old and 26% of 18 year old immigrants and refugees are dropouts, because acculturation is so difficult they choose to leave school rather than forcibly adapt.

10.

Among refugee children, there is a 14%-25% “inactive” rate that includes children who stop going to school and those who don’t participate, as a result of self-perceptions about ability, antisocial behavior, rejection by peers, and lack of preparation for US schools.

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