The admission of refugees to the United States and their resettlement here are authorized by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Refugee Act of 1980. The 1980 Act had two basic purposes: (1) to provide a uniform procedure for refugee admissions; and (2) to authorize federal assistance to resettle refugees and promote their self-sufficiency. The intent of the legislation was to end an ad hoc approach to refugee admissions and resettlement that had characterized U.S. refugee policy since World War II. Under the INA, a refugee is a person who is outside his or her country and who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. In special circumstances, a refugee also may be a person who is within his or her country and who is persecuted or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Excluded from the INA definition of a refugee is any person who participated in the persecution of another. The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) of the Department of State (DOS) coordinates and manages the U.S. refugee program, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) makes final determinations about eligibility for admission. Refugees are processed and admitted to the United States from abroad. Separate provision is made in the INA for the granting of asylum on a case-by-case basis to aliens who are physically present in the United States or who arrive in the United States and who meet the definition of a refugee. After one year in refugee status in the United States, refugees are required to apply to adjust to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. By law, the annual number of refugee admissions and the allocation of these numbers by region of the world are set by the President after consultation with Congress. Each year, the President submits a report to Congress, known as the consultation document , which contains the Administration's proposed worldwide refugee ceiling and regional allocations for the upcoming fiscal year. Following congressional consultations on the Administration's proposal, the President issues a Presidential Determination setting the refugee numbers for that year. Table 1 shows refugee admissions ceilings and regional allocations for FY2008-FY2019. The U.S. refugee program was greatly impacted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the aftermath of those attacks, a review of refugee-related security procedures was undertaken, refugee admissions were briefly suspended, and enhanced security measures were implemented. As a result of these and other factors, refugee admissions, which had totaled about 70,000 in FY2001, plunged to historically low levels in the years following the attacks. In FY2002, for example, actual admissions totaled 27,131. Admissions subsequently rebounded, as shown in Table 1 , exceeding 70,000 in each of FY2009 and FY2010. As also shown in Table 1 , however, there were significantly fewer admissions in FY2011 (56,424) and FY2012 (58,238). The FY2013 consultation document attributed the shortfalls in refugee arrivals in FY2011 and FY2012 largely to new security requirements. Refugee admissions increased in FY2013, and the FY2014 consultation document offered the following explanation for the increase: Refugee arrivals in FY 2013 are up sharply from the previous two years thanks to the concerted efforts of the many partners involved in U.S. resettlement... This success was made possible in part by better synchronization of security and medical checks for refugee families as well as investments in [the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees'] ability to refer refugees from the Middle East and Africa. In FY2013, FY2014, and FY2015, refugee admissions fell just under each year's 70,000 ceiling. The FY2016 refugee ceiling was 85,000, and actual admissions that year were just below that number. The refugee ceiling for FY2017 was set at 110,000 by President Barack Obama. However, President Donald Trump issued two successive executive orders in January 2017 and March 2017 that "proclaim[ed] that the entry of more than 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 would be detrimental to the interests of the United States." The March 2017 executive order, which revoked its predecessor, also directed the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to suspend the refugee admissions program for a period of 120 days. During the 120-day period, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with Secretary of Homeland Security, was tasked with reviewing refugee admissions procedures. On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, pending the resolution of ongoing litigation concerning the lawfulness of the March 2017 executive order, the provisions establishing the FY2017 50,000 refugee admissions limit and the 120-day refugee program suspension could take effect for all individuals except for those "who can credibly claim a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States." The 120-day suspension was in effect from June 26, 2017, until its expiration on October 24, 2017. Actual refugee admissions in FY2017 totaled 53,716. During the suspension of the refugee admissions program, President Trump set the FY2018 refugee ceiling at 45,000, lower than the ceiling for any prior year. The FY2018 consultation document explained that DHS had decided to prioritize the processing of asylum cases over refugee cases that year: Delays in the timely processing of asylum applications are detrimental to legitimate asylum seekers. Furthermore, while a series of security checks are initiated when an asylum application is filed, lingering backlogs can be exploited and used to undermine the security and integrity of the country's asylum system. As such, in considering how to allocate its available resources for humanitarian work in FY 2018, DHS/USCIS is prioritizing adjudication of asylum cases to address this growing backlog, while still providing a portion of its resources to continue refugee processing activities. On October 24, 2017, President Trump issued another executive order on refugee admissions. It provided for the resumption of the refugee admissions program subject to certain conditions. The executive order referenced "special measures" that would be applied to "certain categories of refugees whose entry continues to pose potential threats to the security and welfare of the United States." It also indicated that the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security would continue to "assess and address any risks posed by particular refugees." To this end, the executive order directed the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, to determine within 90 days of the date of the order, and annually after that, whether any steps taken to address the risks posed by the admission of any category of refugees should be modified or terminated. The order further authorized the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement any such modifications or terminations. A DOS fact sheet issued the same day as the executive order explained that DOS, DHS, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had "concluded that additional in-depth review is needed with respect to refugees of 11 nationalities previously identified as potentially posing a higher risk to the United States." According to the fact sheet, admissions of prospective refugees from these 11 unspecified countries would occur on a case-by-case basis during the 90-day review period specified in the executive order. In January 2018, DHS announced that as a result of the 90-day review it was putting in place "additional security enhancements and recommendations to strengthen the integrity of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program," including the following: Additional screening for certain nationals of high-risk countries. Administering the [U.S. Refugee Admissions Program] in a more risk-based manner when considering the overall refugee admissions ceiling, regional allocations, and the groups of applicants considered for resettlement. A periodic review and update of the refugee high-risk country list and selection criteria. According to the DHS announcement, these measures "are designed to keep nefarious and fraudulent actors from exploiting the refugee program to enter the United States." Refugee admissions for FY2018 totaled 22,491, about half the FY2018 ceiling of 45,000. These FY2018 admissions represented the lowest annual level of refugee arrivals in the United States since the establishment of the U.S. refugee admissions program in 1980. The refugee ceiling for FY2019 is 30,000. The FY2019 consultation document offered the following explanation for setting the refugee ceiling at that level, the lowest in the history of the refugee admissions program: This ceiling takes into account the operational realities associated with security measures to protect national security and public safety, as well as the need to conduct credible fear screenings of aliens seeking asylum at our borders and address the backlog of affirmative asylum cases. On October 4, 2018, President Trump signed the Presidential Determination setting the FY2019 worldwide refugee ceiling and regional allocations. The FY2019 refugee ceiling is 30,000, the same as proposed in the FY2019 consultation document. As shown in Table 1 , the FY2019 refugee ceiling of 30,000 is allocated among the regions of the world. The regional allocations are intended to cover previously approved refugees in the pipeline as well as new cases. Unlike in some past years, there is no unallocated reserve in FY2019. An unallocated reserve is to be used if, and where, a need develops for refugee slots in excess of the allocated numbers. Unallocated numbers have been used regularly in recent years (see Table 1 ). The FY2019 consultation document, unlike its predecessors, does not identify the nationalities of the refugees expected to be resettled in the United States. Instead, it describes uncertainty surrounding the home countries of FY2019 refugee arrivals: Given the lengthy processing required, it is likely that refugees referred to [U.S.