US visa cut likely to hit Myanmar refugees hardest

Tin is a 38-year-old Christian refugee from Myanmar who is looking forward to life in the US. Her family was due to go this year, having cleared years of screening and requirements. Tin can't imagine living anywhere else. But the odds of that happening just dropped precipitously. The Trump administration's decision to lower the 2017 refugee visa cap means more people fleeing Myanmar than any other country will miss out on a chance for a better life in the US. It will keep out about 60,000 people - the largest group is from Myanmar - including thousands of Christians who would otherwise almost certainly have received refugee visas to the US this year. President Trump's 16-page redone travel ban aims to stop people from six Muslim countries from entering the US this year and suspends refugees from arriving for 120 days. But deep in the fine print of the order is also a sweeping 55 percent reduction in refugee visas overall, from a planned 110,000 to 50,000 this year. Fearing for their safety, Tin says going back to Myanmar is not an option.