Biden walks back low refugee cap after lawmaker outrage

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Friday walked back an announcement that set this year’s refugee admissions level at 15,000 refugees, following widespread criticism from resettlement agencies and congressional Democrats over maintaining the historically low cap set by his predecessor.

Hours after the initial White House announcement, Press Secretary Jen Psaki released a statement saying, “we expect the President to set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15.”

That appeared to contradict the declaration Biden signed earlier, which suggested the administration would raise the number for the current fiscal year only if the 15,000 number had been reached and emergency refugee needs persisted.

Biden had promised in February to raise the admissions cap to 62,500 for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and the initial decision to maintain Trump-era levels sparked outrage from lawmakers and advocates.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-wash., who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called the decision “unacceptable and unconscionable.”

“After four painful years of fighting Trump’s all-out draconian assault on immigrants, President Biden promised to restore America as a beacon of hope and committed to increasing our refugee resettlement numbers,” Jayapal said in a statement.

“By failing to sign an Emergency Presidential Determination to lift Trump’s historically low refugee cap, President Biden has broken his promise to restore our humanity.”

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin,

D-ill., who leads the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration issues, also criticized the announcement.

“This Biden Administration refugee admissions target is unacceptable,” he said in a statement. “These refugees can wait years for their chance and go through extensive vetting. Thirty-five thousand are ready. Facing the greatest refugee crisis in our time there is no reason to limit the number to 15,000. Say it ain’t so, President Joe.”

The administration initially said it would maintain the Trumpera numbers because it needed time to rebuild a dismantled refugee resettlement infrastructure.

“Our review of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program we inherited from the previous administration revealed it was even more decimated than we’d thought, requiring a major overhaul in order to build back toward the numbers to which we’ve committed,” a senior administration official said early Friday.