Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to limit the number of refugees entering the United States in the next fiscal year to 45,000, three administration officials said Tuesday, according to Politico.

The president faced a deadline of October 1 to make a decision on the refugee cap, and his advisers were divided on the issue, noted the report.

The State Department recommended that Trump embrace a ceiling on refugees of 50,000. The Department of Homeland Security, on the other hand, had raised concerns that it didn’t have the capacity to process 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2018, citing the backlog of asylum applications. The department instead argued for a 40,000-refugee cap.

White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, aggressively pushed for a cap well below 50,000, the administration officials said.

Before a decision can be finalized, the administration needs to consult with members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to explain its reasoning for the new cap. A person familiar with the issue told Politico that had not yet happened as of Tuesday afternoon.

The cap will be lower than the 50,000-refugee limit Trump attempted to set as part of his travel ban, and it pales in comparison to the 110,000 refugees former President Barack Obama hoped to allow into the country in fiscal year 2017.

A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the issue.

On Sunday, senior administration officials announced that Trump would be replacing his travel ban with a targeted list of restrictions that will enhance vetting for nationals from eight countries.

The eight countries on the modified list of countries are Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. The order will take effect on October 18.

The announcement came on the same day that Trump’s previous 90-day ban on visitors from six Muslim-majority nations was set to expire.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a request by the Trump administration to continue to bar most refugees under its travel ban.

The court in its ruling blocked a federal appeals court ruling that would have exempted refugees who have a contractual commitment from resettlement organizations from the travel ban while the justices consider its legality.