U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), a leading advocate for the refugee admission program in Congress, issued the following statement reacting to news reports that the Trump Administration slashed the number of refugees admitted to the United States to lowest level in almost four decades. Pascrell submitted an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations package that would have prevented President Trump from reducing the number of refugees being able to be resettled below 110,000. The House Rules Committee denied consideration of that amendment.

"President Trump’s decision to set refugee admissions at the lowest level in our nation’s history during the worst refugee crisis in human history is unconscionable. This decision shows no compassion, no sense of history, and no moral courage," stated Rep. Pascrell. "An unprecedented 65.6 million people across the globe have been forcibly displaced from their homes because of violence, persecution, and war. Approximately 22.5 million of those individuals are refugees, and more than half are children. As a nation of immigrants founded on the promise to welcome those seeking a better life, America has a moral imperative to take a leadership role in this humanitarian crisis by welcoming thoroughly vetted refugees."

For the last three fiscal years Representative Pascrell has led an appropriations letter with his colleagues requesting additional funding to support increased funding for refugee related-accounts. In 2016, Representative Pascrell met with refugee families resettled in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District. In the 114th Congress, Representative Pascrell introduced H.R. 2839, the Domestic Refugee Resettlement Reform and Modernization Act, to help states and non-profit organizations better meet the needs of refugees as they rebuild their lives in the United States.