Minnesota anticipates major drop-off in refugee arrivals . Slowdown especially acute in Minnesota.

The Star Tribune reports:

About 1,620 refugees came to Minnesota during the federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, down more than 40 percent from the previous year. Comparing calendar year numbers is even starker: By the end of 2017, fewer than 950 refugees will have arrived in Minnesota, compared with more than 3,000 in 2016.

This fall, the Minnesota Department of Human Services got word from the feds that they were projecting 1,385 refugees would come to the state during the fiscal year. But that forecast was based on the expectation that Trump would set the national ceiling at 50,000. Trump went further in reducing the cap to 45,000, the lowest since 1980. Minnesota officials are still waiting for a revised state projection.

Meanwhile, as the four-month pause to resettlement ended this fall, Trump signed a new executive order restarting refugee admissions with more stringent vetting. New guidelines could have a disproportionate effect on Minnesota, which came in sixth nationally in a recent Pew study for its share of refugees resettled since 2002.

Arrivals from 11 countries will remain on hold for at least three more months as the administration continues to review security measures. Among them are Somalia, which in 2016 accounted for 45 percent of Minnesota arrivals, and Iraq, with a growing number of refugees resettled here. Lutheran Social Service, another local resettlement agency, anticipates refugees in coming months will come from Bhutan, Myanmar, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Russia and Ukraine.

The new guidelines also suspended the so-called “follow-to-join” program, which allows refugees resettled within the past two years to sponsor spouses and unmarried children. Officials here do not know exactly what share of refugees arrive in Minnesota through the program, which the administration said raised concerns because relatives undergo less extensive vetting. But family reunification dominates resettlement in the state.

An article well worth your time.