Joe Biden raises cap on annual refugee admissions to US to 125,000, far more than Donald Trump's 15,000 limit
President Joe Biden on Thursday, February 4, announced his plan to increase the cap on annual refugee admissions to the US, which had fallen to a historical low in times of his predecessor Donald Trump, by a big margin. The Democratic commander-in-chief said keeping in sync with his campaign promise, he would set the cap at 125,000, more than eight times the current figure of 15,000. The president also approved an executive order to that effect during the day.
Biden, in what was his inaugural speech on the US foreign policy at the state department headquarters, said the US gave safe havens to those who fled violence or persecution the previous years when the country’s “moral leadership on refugee issues” encouraged other nations to follow similar policies. In his all-encompassing speech, Biden said “America is back”. “Today, I’m approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need,” Biden said, adding: “It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged but that's precisely what we're going to do.”
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When Trump took office four years ago, the refugee ceiling for the fiscal year as set by his predecessor Barack Obama was 110,000. The Republican reduced it drastically and the cap stood at only 15,000 for the current fiscal year, the lowest since the Refugee Act was passed in 1980. Biden vowed to increase the cap to 125,000 in a year starting October 1. The president, however, has to consult Congress before setting the annual limit.
“This executive order will position us to be able to raise the refugee admissions back up to 125,000 persons for the first full fiscal year of the Biden-Harris administration. And I’m directing the State Department to consult with Congress about making a down payment on that commitment as soon as possible,” Biden, 78, added.
Biden's announcement applauded
Biden’s announcement was praised in various quarters. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi applauded the president’s announcement to say that it would send a compelling message to other countries to do the same. “The action today by President Biden will save lives. It’s that simple,” Grandi said in a statement, adding that the idea to expand the cap showed that “strength is rooted in compassion”.
The top UN refugee official also said that despite the challenges that Covid-19 pandemic has posed worldwide, “we remind countries of the life-threatening circumstances that refugees face and encourage them to continue to expand their resettlement programs”. Yael Scacher, senior advocate for independent advocacy group Refugees International, hoped that Biden’s intent will see America taking a leadership role on resettling people who need it. “This is a really important reset for the United States,” Scacher said, according to a report in CNBC.
“The resettlement program has sustained a devastating hit,” CNBC quoted Refugee Council USA’s director of Policy and Practice Danielle Grigsby as saying. “The administration’s swift action to increase refugee admissions will facilitate this lifesaving and community building program’s renewal.”
The US though has an extensive history of welcoming refugees and is a nation with one of the world's largest resettlement, the number of refugees coming to the country has plummeted over the years. While nearly 79,000 refugees headed to the American shores in 2016, only 6,740 arrived last year, according to resettlement data by the United Nations refugee agency.