Trump has lowered the total number of refugees allowed into the U.S. each year since he took office, and now his 2019 quota is the lowest on record.

On Thursday the White House announced the number of refugees that will be allowed into the country in 2019 and the new limit reflects the lowest number on record.

Since a spike of 150,000 refugees welcomed into the country in 1993 the refugee quota has consistently been set at 100,000 or below since the mid-90s. In 2018, Trump lowered the refugee quota to 45,000 after Obama in his final years had set the quote at 70,000 in 2015 and 85,000 in 2016.

Now for 2019, the quota has been lowered to 30,000 which according to the Center For Immigration Studies is the lowest limit since the U.S. refugee program began in 1980.

According to a White House press release the new limit is “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”

The total of 30,000 refugees is divided among the geographic regions listed below:

• Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,000
• East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,000
• Europe and Central Asia . . . . . . . . 3,000
• Latin America/Caribbean . . . . . . . . 3,000
• Near East/South Asia . . . . . . . . . 9,000

Earning refugee status is particular immigration designation made by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). According to USCIS, “refugee status or asylum may be granted to people who have been persecuted or fear they will be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”

An application for refugee status must be made outside of the U.S. and you must receive a referral to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for consideration as a refugee. Applicants may include their spouse and children under the age of 21, and in some cases extended family members as well. Same-sex spouses are eligible as well.

In 2017, non-U.S. countries admitted more than twice as many refugees as the U.S. The U.S. admitted 33,000 refugees and non-U.S. countries admitted 69,000 refugees. Previously, the closest the rest of the world has come to surpassing U.S. refugee admissions was in 2003, when the U.S. admitted 28,000 and the rest of the world admitted 27,000.