Refugee admissions to the US resume after being on pause due to coronavirus

In March, the US put a temporary pause on refugee admissions after the International Organization for Migration, which is in charge of booking refugees on their travel, and the United Nations refugee agency announced a temporary suspension of resettlement travel. Both organizations have since moved to restart admissions.

In a statement to CNN, a State Department spokesperson said Secretary Mike Pompeo approved the resumption of admissions on July 29.

"This program is a vital lifeline for the world's most vulnerable refugees who have no other alternative and who are made even more vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic," the spokesperson said, adding that the program "resumed arrivals for approved refugees effective July 30 with significant COVID health measures in place as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The spokesperson didn't provide additional details on what extra health measures entailed. Refugees are usually heavily screened before arriving in the US.

The pause has already disrupted the lives of thousands of people who had been waiting to come to the US after an arduous process. And even with the resumption of admissions, the number of arrivals this fiscal year, which was already on pace to hit historic lows, will be lower than anticipated.

So far this fiscal year, which began in October, 7,905 refugees have been admitted to the US as of July 31, according to figures from the Refugee Processing Center. As a point of comparison, in July 2019, around 3,400 refugees arrived in the US, compared to 151 this July.