Canada resettles more refugees than US for first time since 1980

Canada resettled more refugees than the United States last year, according to new data, the first time the U.S. did not claim the top spot in nearly three decades.

Canada resettled 28,100 refugees in 2018, compared to 22,900 resettled by the U.S., according to a new report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released this week.

Globally, 92,400 refugees were settled in 2018, a sharp decline from 103,000 in 2017 and a 189,000 in 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes in total.{mosads}

Between 1980 and 2017, the U.S. resettled more refugees than all of the world’s countries combined, according to Pew. Since 1980, the U.S. has resettled about 3 million refugees. Canada settled 658,000 over the same period. 

The data comes as new legislation was introduced in the House on Thursday to increase the number of refugees allowed in the United States. The new policy would require the U.S. to accept no fewer than 110,000 refugees per year.

Last year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo set a refugee cap for fiscal 2019 at 30,000 people, down from 45,000 the year before and an average of 95,000 over the past four decades.