Should the U.S. Admit More Refugees?

• Author: Sheckler, Annette

In 2019, the United States admitted 30,000 refugees as part of its program to aid people fleeing war or persecution in their home countries. That's the smallest number of refugees resettled in the U.S. since 1977. This year, the Trump administration plans to reduce the number of refugees allowed to 18,000.

Experts disagree about whether the U.S. should admit more refugees. A representative of a group that resettles refugees faces off against someone from an organization that favors less immigration of all kinds.

YES Today, there are 30 million refugees worldwide and another 40 million people displaced within their own countries--the highest levels of displacement on record. American leadership needs to respond to this global refugee crisis, but instead the Trump administration has decided to drastically cut the number of refugees the U.S. admits to no more than 18,000.

America's refugee resettlement program has had bipartisan support in Congress for decades. Following the unanimous vote in the Senate to create the refugee resettlement program in 1980, Republican and Democratic administrations have admitted an average of 95,000 refugees into the United States annually. These refugees were fleeing persecution from some of the world's most dangerous places, including the Soviet Union, Vietnam, Iran, Haiti, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

These refugees have made an enormous contribution to the U.S. economy: From 2005 to 2014, refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenue than they cost in services, according to a draft government report. Refugees paid $269 billion in taxes over that period. In cities across the U.S., communities have been reshaped by refugees filling vacant jobs, buying homes, opening small businesses, joining the military, and becoming U.S. citizens.

Historically, American greatness has been rooted in our diversity. And although our history includes the tragedy of slavery, it also reflects the core American value of granting asylum to those who seek liberty. Thomas Jefferson hinted at this tradition when he wrote of "the natural right which all men have of relinquishing the country in which birth or other accident may have thrown them, and seeking subsistence and happiness wheresoever they may be able."

Admitting only 18,000 refugees to the U.S. this year will have irreparable consequences that do not serve our national interests and further damage our standing as a global leader. The U.S. should rise to the...