President Trump had to battle the courts and vocal opposition, but by the end of the year, he was able to slash refugee admissions into the United States to historic lows, USA Today reported.

From Inauguration Day to Dec. 31, his administration accepted 29,022 refugees, the lowest number since at least 2002, according to State Department data. Comparable figures before then are not available.

The previous low during that time frame (29,468) came in 2002, when the U.S. slowed down all avenues of legal immigration following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

That decline will continue in 2018 because Trump instituted an annual cap of 45,000 refugees a year, the lowest cap since Congress created the Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980. Presidents have the authority to unilaterally set the annual refugee cap, which has been as high as 217,000 under President Reagan and hovered between 70,000 and 80,000 under the Bush and Obama administrations.

For some, Trump's drastic reduction represents a campaign promise fulfilled.

"Elections have consequences," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration. "This is what he said he's going to do, and he's doing it."

Opponents of the president say the numbers represent a loss not only for would-be refugees, but also for America's economy and its standing in the world.