Syrian refugees are continuing to be to resettled in the United States since President Donald Trump took office, State Department figures reveal.
Almost 500 refugees were resettled in the U.S. Tuesday, of which 55 were Syrian. During Trump’s campaign for the presidency he slammed the refugee resettlement program, particularly the entrance of Muslim refugees into the U.S. He called Syrian refugees “a great Trojan horse” in reference to them causing acts of terror.
Over 95 percent of the Syrian refugees resettled Tuesday were Muslim, and an additional 46 Muslim Iraqi refugees were also resettled Tuesday.
President Trump has broad authority to control the amount of refugees that enter the U.S. under the Refugee Act of 1980, but he has not taken action so far.
The president also called for extreme vetting of refugees on the campaign trail. Spicer said Tuesday that the Trump administration is waiting on Rex Tillerson to be confirmed as secretary of state so he can work with the Department of Homeland Security to achieve this measure.