President Donald Trump reduces refugee cap to 45,000 for fiscal year 2018

President Donald Trump plans to admit no more than 45,000 refugees from around the world in fiscal year 2018, a significant drop from the cap of 110,000 set for 2017 by predecessor Barack Obama.

The president, in consultation with Congress, determines the maximum number of refugees admitted into the United States per fiscal year. The 2018 year begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2018.

Here's the regional breakdown for top admissions in 2018:

• 19,000 from Africa

• 5,000 from East Asia

• 2,000 from Europe and Central Asia

• 1,500 from Latin America and the Caribbean

• 17,500 from Near East and South Asia

A ceiling of 45,000 refugees "is consistent with our foreign policy goals and operational capacity in light of additional security vetting procedures that we are implementing, as well as the domestic asylum backlogs that (Department of Homeland Security) is currently facing," a U.S. government official told reporters on Sept. 27.

The Trump administration is currently reviewing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and has started strengthening the refugee vetting process, officials said.

Reducing the number of refugees allowed in the country per year is one way to limit legal immigration. Refugees are admitted under a refugee status and must apply for lawful permanent residence one year after their arrival.

Trump earlier this year expressed support for an immigration bill from Republican senators to limit to 50,000 the number of refugees admitted per fiscal year.

Trump has also said via executive orders that the admission of more than 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 "would be detrimental to the interests of the United States." At least 53,605 refugees have arrived in the United States as of Sept. 28, according to data from the State Department's Refugee Processing Center.

A refugee cap of 45,000 for fiscal year 2018 is nearly a 60 percent decline from the 2017 ceiling. This reduction is in line with Trump's promise to limit legal immigration.

We'll continue to monitor future refugee caps and other immigration measures seeking to restrict legal immigration. For now, we continue to rate this promise In the Works.