The surge of Syrian refugees called for under Barack Obama’s resettlement program has abated — at least so far — for fiscal year 2017. The U.S. accepted more than 12,500 Syrian refugees among 85,000 refugees overall in FY2016. The reason behind the slowdown is certainly not a change in policy, as Obama has called for a 29% increase in the number of refugees accepted for FY2017. Rather, it may be a combination of political timing and limited State Department resources. As Matthew J. O'Brien, a former United States Citizenship and Immigration Services official, said, “In my opinion, the system is being overwhelmed.”

Speaking of being overwhelmed, federal agents working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement must feel that way and worse, as they’ve been effectively handcuffed by Obama’s Priority Enforcement Program and turned into little more than a free transportation and housing hub for drug smugglers and human traffickers. Since 2013, ICE has released and turned back onto America’s streets more than 36,000 illegal immigrants convicted of felonies.

In keeping with his promise of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America,” Obama seems bent on opening the immigration spigot, irrespective of how harmful or dangerous this strategy may be.