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by Paul Bedard | July 02, 2019

The Trump administration has ended the surge of Muslim refugees into the United States during the Obama era, significantly boosting the percentage of Christians accepted into the country.

At the end of the Obama administration, not only were more refugees being let into the country, but the levels of Muslims and Christians were nearly level, 43% Muslim, 47% Christian. The year before, 44% were Christian to 46% Muslim.

In the last year, according to State and Homeland Security data analyzed by the Migration Policy Institute, 16% were Muslim and 80% were Christian.

The shift came after the White House put new vetting requirements on Muslims and refugees coming from warring areas in the Middle East and after Christian groups pressed the administration for help.

It also came as the White House cut the Obama-era goal of letting 110,000 refugees into the country every year by 73%, to just over 26,000, cuts that impacted refugees of all religions.

The institute, touting its study in an email newsletter sent out Tuesday, also noted that in a first, Canada and not the United States, is now the top home for the world’s newest refugees.

“Since the Trump administration travel ban and additional vetting procedures were implemented in 2017, Muslim refugees represented just 16 percent (3,495 individuals) of all those resettled in 2018. The first seven months of FY 2019 have followed a similar pattern, and Muslim refugees made up 16 percent (2,375 refugees) of the 14,808 resettled as of April 30, 2019,” said MPI.

(Screenshot via Migration Policy Institute)