Biden Pledges To Raise Number Of Refugees Admitted To US From 15K To 125K
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who was recently proclaimed by the media as the winner of the 2020 election, signaled that under his administration the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States would be raised to 125,000 from the 15,000 that President Donald Trump wants.
“The United States has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader of resettling refugees in our humanitarian response,” Biden said on November 12 according to ReligionNews.com.
700% increase in refugees limit
“I promise, as president, I will reclaim that proud legacy for our country. The Biden-Harris administration will restore America’s historic role in protecting the vulnerable and defending the rights of refugees everywhere and raising our annual refugee admission target to 125,000,” he added in the prerecorded video for the 40th anniversary of Jesuit Refugee Service.
Biden’s pledge would mean an increase of more than 700% from the current level allowed just in his first year in office. It would also signal a major reversal from the number allowed under the Trump administration.
This is not the first time that Biden committed to increasing the asylum-seeker limit in the country — while criticizing the current Trump administration for putting brakes on the number of refugees allowed to enter the US.
“As President, I will increase the number of refugees we welcome into this country, setting an annual global refugee target of 125,000 — up from a ceiling of 18,000 under Trump — and will seek to further raise it over time commensurate with our responsibility, our values, and the unprecedented global need,” the former vice president said during the World Refugee Day.
“I will support efforts to work with Congress in a bipartisan fashion to protect our refugee policy from drastic and arbitrary reductions we have seen during the Trump Administration and establish a minimum admissions number of at least 95,000 refugees annually … I also recognize that it is not enough to simply reverse or dismantle the heartless policies of the Trump Administration,” he added.
Pending immigration applications first
>President Trump earlier moved to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed to enter the country citing the need for the US to to channel its resources to dealing with its own “humanitarian and security crisis” along the southern border with Mexico, where tens of thousands of asylum-seekers from South America are also arriving each month.
“The admission of up to 15,000 refugees to the United States during FY 2021 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest,” the incumbent Republican president said in a memo on October 28.
The State Department also earlier clarified that the government wants to protect those already in the US instead of taking in more refugees saying it is based on “reality and not wishes.” It also cited “nearly 1 million” cases pending in US immigration courts which are mostly asylum cases.
“The current burdens on the US immigration system must be alleviated before it is again possible to resettle a large number of refugees,” it said earlier. “Prioritizing the humanitarian protection cases of those already in our country is simply a matter of fairness and common sense,” it added.
