But even a legitimate victory may not be enough to restore the US refugee system.
Ramji Nagares of Temple University told Al Jazeera there are countless other ways the Trump administration can almost override the program, even if legal challenges are prioritized.
“If they can’t stop it completely, they can actually lower the numbers, damage the program and actually give its functional capabilities in the future,” she said.
The 1980 law created an annual process for the president to set the entrance ceiling. This is the largest number of refugees that the United States could be allowed to.
Since 1990, refugees have been hospitalized on an average of approximately 65,000 per year. Still, the 1980 Refugee Act does not set a minimum number of refugees that must be permitted.
The late President Jimmy Carter set the best bar, with admission ceilings exceeding 230,000.
Meanwhile, Trump closed his 2020 admissions with 18,000, marking his historic low. 2021 – the year when his first term ended – he proposed even fewer numbers: 15,000.
It is unclear how legal Trump could go to minimizing the program during his second term, according to Opira, a lawyer for the U.S. Immigration Council.
“There’s not a lot of case law about a kind of boundary,” Opira said.
The Trump administration shows that there is at least one group willing to prioritize refugee hospitalizations. I’m a white African South African.
In an executive order in February, Trump said the United States would “help resettle the country to escape government-supported racially-based discrimination, including the confiscation of racist property.”
However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Trump’s claims of anti-white discrimination were false.
According to Ramji-nogales, it is unclear what the impact of all these changes will be.
She said there is traditionally bipartisan support for refugee programs as it overlaps with religious interests and efforts to promote “soft power” overseas.
Even when public sentiment towards refugees has been soaked at various points in recent decades, she said, it was true.
However, Trump has faced little opposition from his own Republican party so far during his second term.
“What happens next depends on what happens in the midterm elections and what happens in the next presidential election,” Ramji Nogales said.
“But I think the long-term impact of both the US and the rest of the world is disappointing, to say the least.”
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