BOISE, Idaho — A new report from the International Rescue Commission finds that the number of refugees resettled in Idaho has declined by two-thirds in just a couple years.
In 2016, 1,118 refugees were resettled in Idaho and only 380 were in 2017, according to a spokesperson with the International Rescue Committee.
"Specifically in the state of Idaho we are seeing [refugee resettlement numbers] drop across the board since the Trump administration took office in 2016," Megan Schwab, the community engagement specialist with the International Rescue Committee, said.
Schwab says the Presidential Determination under President Trump has made a major difference in the number of refugees being resettled. The policy outlines how many refugees are admitted into the country.
"What we've seen since 2016 is a drop by half and an additional devastating drop down from 45,000 last year to only 30,000 this year," she said.
The IRC says Idaho is not alone — the number of refugees entering the United States is at a historic low.
In 2016, 95,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. That number dropped to 30,000 for 2019.
In addition to the cap being lowered, Schwab says other factors have also slowed resettlement down.
"What we've also seen are artificial barriers that have been put in place within the bureaucracy and processing times of trying to bring refugees into the country as well," she said.
Schwab says those barriers are keeping families apart. While some people who are already in the U.S. for refuge, others are having to wait to reunite with their families.
"And there is no reason for it, they have been through the process, they have been approved, vetted, secured, and they are just not getting the ticket to fly here and rejoin their families," she said.
The IRC says that fact is one of the biggest human impacts of the drop in refugees resettling.
"Certainly the pain of families that are living here waiting for their loved ones to reunite with them is that first human impact that is really hard to quantify, so hard to measure," Schwab said.
Zeze Rwasama is the director of the Refugee Center at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. He says the decrease in the number of refugees resettled in Twin Falls is affecting people already living there because it means many of them are waiting longer for refugee friends or family members to arrive.