U.S. refugee program fears losing public support

By , Nicole Duran

Published December 20, 2015

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Government officials who oversee the nation's refugee admissions program are hoping that the backlash against allowing refugees into the U.S. in light of Friday's attacks on Paris don't ruin a successful program.

"My biggest fear … is we will lose the bipartisan support for this program that it has enjoyed for decades," a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday.

The program has resettled more than 3 million refugees from around the world since 1975 across all 50 states, according to the State Department. In September, the State Department pledged to admit 10,000 additional Syrian refugees this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

Originally, the program's goal was to admit 75,000 global refugees this year — up from 70,000 in fiscal 2015, which ended Sept. 30. But then, global pressure mounted on the U.S. to take in more refugees after Europe was flooded by desperate refugees over the summer, so the U.S. will now take 85,000 refugees this year in total.