In March, 751 Iraqi refugees were admitted into the U.S. This marks a sharp increase from February (444) and January (375), which is an improvement that should be recognized. Still, as reported by the Associated Press:
The new count puts total admissions for the current budget year, which began Oct. 1, at 2,627. That gives the administration six months to admit 9,373 more refugees to hit its goal of 12,000 — or about 1,562 each month.
As the AP story points out, the March figures represent a significant improvement but the administration has a long way to their goal for this fiscal year. Without the White House stepping in and publicly addressing this vital issue, hope for admitting a significant amount of refugees in 2008 is fading away.