When United States President Joe Biden declared that his administration would not change the refugee cap that Donald Trump had previously decreased to 15,000 individuals per year, this sparked certain criticism.
Biden announced that he intended to maintain the refugee cap at the same level set by his predecessor. “The admission of up to 15,000 refugees remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest” stated the White House memorandum. Former President Donald Trump decided to significantly reduce refugee admissions within his “America First” policy which met with strong condemnation from human rights activists and some politicians and was even interpreted as a manifestation of racism and discrimination.
The level of the refugee cap dropped dramatically under the Trump presidency. In 2019 his administration cut the previous level of 30,000 to 18,000 individuals, this being the lowest number since the modern refugee program was established in 1980. Compared to the last years of Obama presidency (2016-2017), Trump slashed the number of refugees by about 80% as his predecessor had allowed 110,000 refugees per year to arrive on US soil.
The criticism of Joe Biden’s approach was made even stronger as during his campaign he had pledged to radically change the refugee policy and increase the number of admissions to 125,000. His recent decision is also contrary to his public declaration to raise the cap in this fiscal year to 62,500 which was proposed by his administration earlier in 2021.
According to CNN sources close to the US administration, Biden’s decision stems from the crisis on the southern border as the US is experiencing an excessive influx of migrants from Central America and Mexico. This is a serious concern for the White House although the migrant policy is not connected to the refugee policy.
The intention to maintain the current refugee cap has garnered much negative reaction.
“It is deeply disappointing that President Biden has chosen to maintain for the moment the record-low refugee admissions cap of 15,000 set by his predecessor. The rightful erasure of discriminatory admissions categories does not dispense with the need for a higher number of refugees to be admitted,” said David Miliband, President, and CEO of the International Rescue Committee.
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 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,” posted New York Democratic-Republican, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her Twitter account.
The White House reacted immediately to those voicing criticisms about the refugee cap proposal and the administration said that it was working on a new policy which would be presented soon.
Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, said that Biden’s decision “has been the subject of some confusion,” and that the US president would “set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15.”
The refugee cap for the 2021 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2021, was set to 15,000 refugees. This number included 7,000 slots for Africa, 1,000 for East Asia, 1,500 for Europe and Central Asia, 3,000 for Latin America/ Caribbean, 1,500 for Near East/ South Asia, and 1,000 slots that are unallocated. As many as 2,050 refugees had been admitted to the US as of March 31, 2021.
