Last week, Joe Biden said he would not be increasing the historically low cap on refugees that Donald Trump set during his presidency. By the end of his term, Trump reduced the limit to just 15,000 refugees per year, about 1/10 of what Barack Obama set during his last year in office.
During his campaign, Biden promised to reverse Trump’s restrictive and racist refugee policies, but he’d been facing growing criticism for the delay in doing so. On Friday, when he announced that he would sign an emergency determination keeping the cap at Trump’s disgraceful 15,000, the pushback was immediate and it was harsh—deservedly so.
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
Biden maintaining Stephen Miller’s refugee policy is not something anyone should defend. It’s a disgrace. https://t.co/XFwlrAVjBO
— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) April 16, 2021
In consultation with @SecBlinken and @SecMayorkas earlier this year, @HouseJudiciary made clear that we supported the much higher levels of admission that the Biden administration proposed at the time.
Today’s announcement is extremely discouraging.
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) April 16, 2021
We have it within our power to help refugees.
It’s unconscionable to maintain Trump administration policies that were rooted in cruelty and xenophobia. https://t.co/crN82SPTUh
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) April 16, 2021
There are simply no excuses for today’s disgraceful decision.
It goes directly against our values and risks the lives of little boys and girls huddled in refugee camps around the world.
I know, because I was one.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 16, 2021
Within hours, Biden had already started to change course, saying his administration would increase the refugee cap by May 15, but not providing many other details. In a statement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the full number would be set next month, but that “Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely.”
It is true that Trump “decimated” this program, but not everyone is convinced that Biden’s original promise is so unrealistic.
“The idea that the number can’t be set higher because we are not sure if there is the capacity for resettlement orgs to process makes no sense. If they can’t process, they won’t. But also, these orgs have been preparing for this since Biden won b/c it is what he promised to do,” Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal wrote on Twitter.
“They have hired staff, put all preparations in place & now are left in the lurch. My office has spoken with several of the orgs: none of them believe capacity is the issue. Many refugees have already been processed & are just waiting to be resettled & reunited with family.”
Let’s be clear: @POTUS sets a cap for # of refugees that *may* be resettled each year. That means it is a CEILING not a floor. In other words, if agencies did not have the capacity to resettle as many refugees as permitted by the cap, they wouldn’t. So… https://t.co/TG7wmSACNH
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) April 17, 2021
They have hired staff, put all preparations in place & now are left in the lurch. My office has spoken with several of the orgs: none of them believe capacity is the issue. Many refugees have already been processed & are just waiting to be resettled & reunited with family.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) April 17, 2021
After months of delays and dismissing questions about his plan to reverse Trump’s horrible refugee policies, there will definitely be a lot of eyes on whatever decision Biden makes next month, especially now that he’s shown he’s willing to listen to (which is a nicer way of saying “submit to intense public condemnation from”) his more progressive allies.
Bullying works https://t.co/mV1AfF3SfT
— Bekka Supp (@valhallabckgirl) April 17, 2021
(image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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