Biden set to accept more refugees after years of Trump restrictions

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will seek to raise annual refugee admissions to 125,000 in the coming fiscal year, he said yesterday, a more than eight-fold increase after former President Donald Trump slashed levels to historic lows.

Speaking at the U.S. State Department, Biden also said he would approve an executive order to build up the country’s capacity to accept refugees in the face of “unprecedented global need.”

Biden has pledged to restore the United States’ historic role as a country that welcomes refugees from around the world after four years of cuts to admissions under Trump. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there are 1.4 million refugees worldwide in urgent need of resettlement.

During his presidency, Trump portrayed refugees as a security threat and a drain on U.S. communities as he took a series of measures to restrict legal immigration.

Biden is confronting a refugee program hobbled by Trump’s policies, which led to the closure of resettlement offices and the reassignment of program staffers. Trump’s actions also disrupted the pipeline of refugees to the United States, a situation exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden said the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions - up from 15,000 this year under Trump - would be for the coming fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, 2021.

“It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged,” Biden said. “But that’s precisely what we’re going to do.”