Under pressure from Democrats, President Joe Biden announced Monday (May 3) a significant increase in the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States this fiscal year, quadrupling the admissions cap to 62,500. Overturning an executive order he signed last month that required refugee admissions to remain at the Trump (Trump) era level of 15,000.
Biden issued a statement Monday announcing, “Today, I am revising the U.S. refugee admissions cap for this fiscal year to 62,500. Eliminating the historic low of 15,000 set by the previous administration, this number does not reflect America’s values as a welcoming and supportive nation for refugees.”
“The new admissions cap will strengthen the expansion of U.S. capacity to admit refugees already underway and allow us to reach our goal of admitting 125,000 refugees in the next fiscal year.” Biden said.
According to the White House memo, of the 62,500 slots released in fiscal year 2021, 22,000 are allocated to African refugees, 13,000 to refugees in the Middle East and South Asia, 6,000 to East Asian refugees, 4,000 to refugees in Europe and Central Asia, 5,000 to refugees in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the remaining 12,500 are general The remaining 12,500 places are general.
However, Biden said that the number of admissions this year is likely to be difficult to reach the maximum of 62,500, and that the United States now needs time to rebuild its infrastructure to accept more refugees afterwards. He pledged that he would increase refugee admissions to 125,000 in his first full fiscal year in office (2022).
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