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Congress Reviews Possible Changes to 2026 Refugee Admissions as Program Reaches Ceiling
Church World Service urges Administration to Uphold Program’s Humanitarian Commitment as more than 120,000 Approved Refugees Remain Stranded
Washington, D.C., May 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahead of Congressional consultations scheduled this week to adjust the 2026 refugee admissions ceiling, media reports suggest the Trump administration will propose increasing the current ceiling by 10,000 and reserve the additional slots exclusively for white Afrikaners from South Africa.
Today, the faith-based international humanitarian and social justice organization Church World Service (CWS) condemned the proposal and called on the Trump administration to broaden the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and keep its promises to the people it has left stranded in extremely dangerous circumstances. More than 120,000 rigorously vetted refugees fleeing displacement in over 90 countries were approved for resettlement in the United States before the near total ban imposed in January 2025.
“For decades, the United States has upheld an unwavering, bipartisan moral commitment to the principles of refuge and safety,” said CWS Chief Strategy Officer, Erol Kekic. "Today, in the face of unprecedented global humanitarian crises, we can and must do better. The administration and Congressional leaders must use this opportunity to prioritize protecting people whose lives are at direct risk and maintain America’s longstanding global moral leadership.”
The United Nations projects 136 million people will be forcibly displaced or stateless by the end of 2026, a record-high surpassing that after World War II. Yet in the fall of 2025, the Trump administration set the refugee cap for Fiscal Year 2026 at 7,500 people, the lowest in U.S. history, and limited admissions almost exclusively to white Afrikaners from South Africa. Now, the administration has made an “emergency determination” to attempt to increase the cap, but continues to limit resettlement to a single, predominantly white population from one nation.
The refugees approved for U.S. resettlement who are now stranded include more than 15,000 Iranians fleeing religious persecution, hundreds of evacuated Afghans who assisted the US war effort but are now waiting in a transit camp in Qatar, refugees with severe medical needs, unaccompanied refugee children and families separated by thousands of miles.
For decades, CWS has accompanied tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the world's most severe and protracted displacement crises. In April, CWS, along with HIAS, Lutheran Services Northwest, and several refugee plaintiffs, moved to file an amended complaint in its ongoing lawsuit challenging the refugee ban. The amended complaint alleges that the administration's exclusion of all refugees from the program except South Africans is driven by racial animus.
“CWS will keep fighting for the protection and welcome of extremely vulnerable refugees who fled actual humanitarian emergencies in places like Afghanistan and Ukraine and now, through no fault of their own, have nowhere to turn and nowhere to call home,” added Kekic. “Admitting refugees most in need is not only vital for people whose lives are in immediate danger, but also for maintaining the humanitarian mandate of the program.”
CWS has been welcoming refugees in the United States since its founding in 1946 directly after World War II. The organization currently supports newcomers in 24 states across the United States to integrate and contribute to their new communities as they rebuild their lives.
For more information, or to speak with CWS Chief Strategy Officer Erol Kekic, please contact media@cwsglobal.org.
Christopher Plummer Church World Service cplummer@cwsglobal.org
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