President Biden has boosted the nation’s refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for the current fiscal year, a whopping four-times more than the 15,000 figure under the Trump administration, but only half of the 125,000 refugee admissions that the Biden administration aspires to achieve next fiscal year.
But Biden said in a statement that the 62,500 cap will not be met this fiscal year and the 125,000 refugee admissions goal that he plans to set for next fiscal year may be difficult to achieve.
“The sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year. We are working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years. It will take some time, but that work is already underway,” the president said in the statement.
“The budget that I have submitted to Congress also reflects my commitment to the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions in the first fiscal year of my presidency. That goal will still be hard to hit. We might not make it the first year. But we are going to use every tool available to help these fully-vetted refugees fleeing horrific conditions in their home countries,” he said.
