Facing a crisis on our southern border, The New York Times reported last week that Joe Biden would not increase Trump’s limit on the number of refugees admitted into the United States. This sparked outrage from congressional Democrats and immigrant activists.
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, slammed the president with the following statement:
“This Biden Administration refugee admissions target is unacceptable. 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.”
AOC responded with a tweet calling the policy “xenophobic” and “racist”:
Completely and utterly unacceptable. Biden promised to welcome immigrants, and people voted for him based on that promise.
Upholding the xenophobic and racist policies of the Trump admin, incl the historically low + plummeted refugee cap, is flat out wrong.
Keep your promise. https://t.co/A82xYf1XpR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 16, 2021
The order signed by Biden initially sought to keep former President Donald Trump’s limit in place at 15,000 refugees. The cap set by Trump was the lowest since Congress passed the Refugee Act in 1980, according to Bloomberg. On the campaign trail in 2019, Biden vocalized brash criticism of Trump’s attempt to alleviate strain on the refugee branch of the Department of Health and Human Services:
President Trump's decision to close America's doors to refugees fleeing persecution is cruel and shortsighted. As president, I will restore America's historic commitment to welcoming those whose lives are threatened by conflict and crisis. https://t.co/74BfkIbBPd
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 3, 2019
The Biden administration buckled to pressure mounting from the left, facing accusations of failure to deliver on his campaign’s promise to increase the cap to 125,000 for the next fiscal year. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki argued the Biden admin did not “flip-flop” or make reversal on previous policy:
“Once we reach 15,000, we will raise it. That was not accounted for in some of how people were … digesting the information.”
According to Fox News, Psaki stated it “seemed unlikely” the administration would reach Biden’s initial refugee admittance goal by the end of this fiscal year. The Refugee Processing Center reported that 2,050 refugees had been admitted to the US as of March 31st, the lowest number by any president in U.S. history. “We’re gonna increase the numbers,” Biden told reporters on Saturday.
“We couldn’t do two things at once. And now we’re going to increase the numbers.”
Biden’s emergency presidential determination also ends restrictions on refugee resettlement from Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen and Syria.
