Biden will raise Trump refugee cap following outcry

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce a higher refugee cap for this year within a month, the White House said Friday, following a swift backlash from allies over his decision to keep the historically low ceiling set by his predecessor.

Biden earlier Friday signed an order intended to accelerate processing of refugees while keeping former President Donald Trump’s 15,000-person cap in place. That backtracked on the administration’s plan to accept many more refugees this year. Top Democrats condemned the move, with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin calling the decision “unacceptable.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement that Biden’s order had been “the subject of some confusion,” and that the president would follow through on welcoming more refugees to the U.S.

“The president was urged to take immediate action to reverse the Trump policy that banned refugees from many key regions, to enable flights from those regions to begin within days; today’s order did that,” Psaki said. “With that done, we expect the president to set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15.”

Biden’s order reallocated slots to make them more readily available to people living in Africa and the Middle East. Limits on those areas set by Trump slowed refugee admissions, according to a senior administration official who previewed the order.

Human-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers quickly condemned the move and called on Biden to fulfill a pledge to raise the cap to 62,500 for the second half of the fiscal year, or April 1 through Sept. 30. The official said the U.S. couldn’t immediately reach that target due to the lack of infrastructure left behind by Trump to process refugees, and the coronavirus pandemic.

“Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely,” Psaki said.

Just 2,050 refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1, the lowest level on record in the modern era, according to an analysis from the International Rescue Committee.