--- title: Barack Obama: U.S. Will Accept 110,000 Refugees in 2017 description: President Obama announced Tuesday the U.S. will accept 110,000 refugees from around the world in the coming year, a nearly 60% increase canonical: https://time.com/4501924/barack-obama-refugee-increase-united-nations/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-20T20:50:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:43:25.735Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama: U.S. Will Accept 110,000 Refugees From Around the World og:description: It's a 60% increase og:url: https://time.com/4501924/barack-obama-refugee-increase-united-nations/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7f2281719088524/6988a6f1fb4eac88fb88f31c/barack-obama-un.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: barack-obama-un og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama: U.S. Will Accept 110,000 Refugees From Around the World twitter:description: It's a 60% increase twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7f2281719088524/6988a6f1fb4eac88fb88f31c/barack-obama-un.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: U.S. Will Accept 110,000 Refugees From Around the World > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 20, 2016 8:50 PM UTC  Barack Obama addresses the 71st session of United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York City on Sept. 20, 2016. Barack Obama addresses the 71st session of United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York City on Sept. 20, 2016. Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 20, 2016 8:50 PM UTC President Obama announced Tuesday the U.S. will accept 110,000 refugees from around the world in the coming year, a [nearly 60% increase](http://time.com/4492775/white-house-refugee-increase-2017/) in the number of refugees that were welcomed over the past year. Obama called the global refugee crisis a “test of our common humanity” during an an address at a summit on refugees during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He urged all leaders to do more to take in those who are being driven out of their homes in droves as a result of conflict in Syria and other Middle Eastern and Northern African nations. World leaders will accept 360,000 refugees from war-torn areas over the course of 2017, with Germany and Canada among the countries accepting the most. The U.S. will begin to accept the 110,000 new refugees in fiscal year 2017, which starts on Oct. 1. The president and the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have faced scrutiny from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for their refugee policies. While Obama insists refugees are more heavily vetted than the average tourist, Trump has called refugees, particularly those from Syria, the great “Trojan Horse” of our time. Instead of welcoming them, Trump has proposed banning Muslims and people from countries where terrorism is an issue from entering the country. The candidate’s son [tweeted a provocative image](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/us/politics/donald-trump-jr-faces-backlash-after-comparing-syrian-refugees-to-skittles-that-can-kill.html?%5Fr=0) comparing Syrian refugees to poisoned candy. “If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?” the image read. “That’s our Syrian refugee problem.” At the U.N., Obama made the Syrian refugee crisis out to be a family issue. “Refugees, most of them women and children, are often fleeing war and terrorism. 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