The State Department has cancelled refugee travel to the US and paused refugee processing, according to the internal guidance obtained by BBC’s US partner, CBS.
“All previously scheduled travel of refugees to the United States is being cancelled, and no new travel bookings will be made,” the memo from the State Department says, without specifying how long the suspension will last.
The memo, which suggests that the suspension takes effect immediately, follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday that said refugee admissions into the US would be suspended from 27 January.
The order states that the US “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees”.
“This order suspends the [The United States Refugee Admissions Program] until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States,” it says.
Officials have reportedly been instructed to stop the refugee referral process overseas and to pause a Biden administration programme allowing private US citizens to sponsor refugees.
The move doesn’t currently affect Special Immigrant Visa holders, who’ve assisted US military forces, the guidance states.
On Monday – the day President Trump was sworn back into the White House – he signed an executive order suspending the US’s Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), saying America “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans”.
The rule halts USRAP until “further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States”, the order says.
