A recent White House meeting where staffers decided on a plan to cut refugee admissions to just 30,000 next year was not attended by potential critics of the plan, including U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley.
NBC News reports that Haley and other Trump administration officials who might have concerns over lowering the overall number of refugees accepted by the U.S. were not invited to the meeting last Friday where White House aide Stephen Miller made his case for slashing the refugee program.
{mosads}Mark Green, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development and a supporter of the refugee program, was also not invited to the meeting, NBC News reports.
Haley had previously expressed concerns to drastically lowering the numbers of refugee admissions.
An official told NBC that while Haley was not at the meeting, we “provided our views during the process.”
The move to cut refugee admissions to 30,000 for next year reportedly came as Miller pressed to limit the number to just 15,000.
A request for comment by The Hill was not immediately returned by the State Department.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in the room for the deliberations, was reportedly overruled at the meeting due to maneuvering by Miller, according to a former official familiar with the meeting. Pompeo did not respond to questions from NBC on why his agency was supporting a lowered refugee admission cap.
One official told the network that Miller was successful in his endeavors because of his closeness to the president’s favored positions on immigration.
“Miller has survived and people who think like Miller have survived because the president agrees with these policies. He is not running a rogue operation,” the official said.
Pompeo announced the changes to the refugee policy on Monday, while urging reporters and others to view the changes in the “context” of the State Department’s broader efforts to aid refugees.
“The refugee numbers should not be viewed in isolation from other expansive humanitarian programs,” Pompeo said on Monday. “Some will characterize the refugee ceiling as the sole barometer of America’s commitment to vulnerable people around the world. This would be wrong.”
“The improved refugee policy of this administration serves the national interest of the United States,” Pompeo added. “We are and continue to be the most generous nation in the world.”