Biden raises Trump refugee cap after delay backlash
New limit now set at 62,500 for this year
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday formally raised the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling of 15,000 set by former President Donald Trump.
Biden last month moved to expand eligibility criteria for resettlements, removing one roadblock to refugees entering the U.S. put in place by Trump, but he had initially stopped short of lifting the annual cap. But Biden faced sharp pushback for not at least taking the symbolic step of authorizing more refugees to enter the U.S. this year and swiftly reversed course.
In a statement Monday, Biden said the new limit “erases the historically low number set by the previous administration,” adding that Trump’s cap “did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees.”
“It is important to … remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much, and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin,” Biden added.
Biden said it was a “sad truth” that the U.S. would not meet the 62,500 cap by the end of the fiscal year in September, given the pandemic and limitations on resettlement capabilities — some of which his administration has attributed to the Trump administration’s policies. That said, they maintain Biden remains committed to setting a 125,000 cap for the 2022 fiscal year that starts in October, while working to improve U.S. capabilities to process refugees to be able to accept as many of them as possible under the new cap.
Refugee resettlement agencies applauded the action after criticizing Biden for months.
“We are absolutely thrilled and relieved for so many refugee families all across the world who look to the U.S. for protection,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine resettlement agencies in the nation.