President Joe Biden’s administration announced today that it would not be able to keep its promise to rapidly increase the number of refugees authorized to enter the United States, but Democratic Party officials then backtracked strongly, and later the Biden team changed its story.
A senior Biden administration official said earlier that Biden would maintain the lowest refugee admissions level ever, which is 15,000 refugees a year, a figure set by former President Donald Trump during his administration to adopt a tough border policy.
Biden’s administration has said it will allow about 60,000 refugees a year and double them every other year, a move that is part of a broader commitment by Democrats to end the harsh anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment fanned by Trump’s presidency.
But the unnamed official said the White House will maintain the current strict cap of 15,000 to “rebuild” the fractured immigration program and address the thorny issues related to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
After Democratic heavyweights and refugee aid groups blasted Biden’s standards as “shockingly low” and “deeply disappointing,” the White House later today issued a statement saying that the 15,000 figure was only temporary.
The White House said it expects Biden “to set a final and increased cap on the number of refugees by May 15 for the remainder of the fiscal year,” but “his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely.
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