SAN DIEGO (AP) — When President Donald Trump dramatically slashed the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., he also gave state and local governments the authority to refuse to accept them for the first time in history.
Last week’s move could further undermine a program that has seen an 80 percent drop in the number of refugees allowed in under Trump, who has pushed to limit both legal and illegal immigration.
If governors or lawmakers want to close the door, it could hurt towns with aging populations that have come to rely on young refugees to revitalize their economies.
Refugee advocates say the policy will chip away at the U.S. resettlement program that had been a model for protecting the world’s most vulnerable people.
Trump’s executive order says the federal government and local officials weren’t coordinating well.
