President Joe Biden came under public scrutiny after his administration shared a proposal in February suggesting that it would not increase the limit of refugee admissions into the country. The proposal received severe backlash from the Democrats and other parties who criticized Biden for keeping the Trump-era cap in place.
On Monday, President Biden announced that he would increase the refugee admission cap. Biden said that this fiscal year, the cap will be increased to 62,500. He also admitted that while that remains the upper limit, the “sad truth” is that the stipulated number will not be achieved this year.
During his election campaign, Joe Biden had suggested a plan to increase the cap on refugee admissions set by Donald Trump. But in February, the Biden administration decided to keep the Trump-era cap – a move for which his administration has been criticized a lot. The Biden administration even defended the earlier proposal and said that the refugee limit would remain the same.
Biden also mentioned that he had plans to increase the refugee admissions to 125,000 during his first year in the office, but he now believes that this target will be very hard to achieve. Biden acknowledged that his administration might not be able to achieve the target this year but said that they have all the resources in place to allow refugees in the country after fully vetting them.
According to the Refugee Processing Center, only 2,050 people had been admitted as refugees in the country which is far below the Trump-era cap of 15,000. According to CNN, Biden was hesitant in revising the cap put in place by his predecessor.
President Biden also shared his plans to raise the refugee admissions to 125,000 next year. Even though the President seemed incredibly optimistic, he was quick to note that the goal considering the current situation is a little far-fetched.
In addition, he also added how his administration is working to “undo the damage of the last four years.” President Biden provided a means of solace through his statement, saying that work was underway and soon, his administration would come out with a streamlined process through which screening can be conducted for those refugees “already in the pipeline for admission.”
