US on Pace to Meet Obama's Target of 10K Syrian Refugees by Year's End

— -- Amid an ongoing debate during the presidential campaign over the United States’ refugee program, 8,000 Syrian refugees have been admitted into the country so far in 2016, the Obama administration announced today.

Anne Richard, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, says the administration is confident it will admit at least 10,000 refugees by the end of the year -- a significant surge in comparison to 1,680 refugees the administration admitted in 2015.

Out of the 8,000 admitted so far, 78 percent are woman and children, according to Richard. Individuals under the age of 18 accounted for 4,576 of those admitted into the U.S. so far this year -- a sum she says is evenly split between boys and girls.

Concerns about the increases in refugee admissions have been widespread throughout the presidential campaign, in state capitals and on Capitol Hill, with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and other Republicans warning that the surge comes at the expense of rigorous screening during a heightened threat of attacks, pointing to some recent crimes in Europe perpetrated by Islamic State fighters posing as Syrian refugees.

While 78 percent of the refugees admitted are women and children, 22 percent have been “military-age” adult males, which reinforces some concerns from many Republicans and even some prominent Democrats.

The Obama administration conceded that “hundreds” of Syrian refugees have been denied admission, and many more applications have been held due to concerns exposed during interviews with administration officials.

The vetting process for resettling refugees in the United States typically takes from 18 to 24 months and comprises a series of hurdles. The first step entails meeting the legal definition of a “refugee,” which only about one percent of applicants satisfy.

The refugees are then vetted through multiple federal intelligence and security agencies as well as having their names, biographical information, and fingerprints processed through FBI, State Department, Homeland Security, and Defense Department databases.

Finally, there is an added step in the case of Syrian refugees of having their information cross-referenced with classified and unclassified information. Syrian refugees are also reportedly vetted through a secret national security program.

ABC News’ John Kruzel contributed to this story.