President Biden Fails to Keep Promise to Raise Refugee Admissions Cap

President Biden Fails to Keep Promise to Raise Refugee Admissions Cap

For Immediate Release: April 16, 2021

WASHINGTON–  Refugee Congress is outraged with the announcement that President Biden will continue Trump's historically low refugee admission goal and set the U.S.' refugee admissions cap for this fiscal year at 15,000.

The Biden Administration recently proposed an increase to this year’s refugee admissions goal to 62,500 refugees, with a goal to move toward 125,000 the following year. However, President Biden has failed to keep his promise in restoring refugee resettlement and dismantling Trump’s discriminatory policies in order to provide safety to thousands of refugees awaiting resettlement.

“I am enraged at the current Administration for breaking its promise of restoring the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program beginning this fiscal year. We have been waiting in good faith with hopes of an increase from what was dismantled during the last Administration,” said Lourena Gboeah Refugee Congress Board Chair. “Today, we are left in disbelief - but ready to raise our voices and urge the Administration to act on its promises. We also urge the Administration to consider families waiting to be reunified with their loved ones, and those whose clearances are set to expire soon.  As an organization built and led by refugees, asylees and other vulnerable migrants, we know firsthand that the refugee resettlement program is a critical life-saving program that provides refugees a chance to build a new life, away from unsafe conditions.”

This Presidential Determination (PD) reallocates quotas based on region - thus ending existing discriminatory quotas set by Trump's administration on the number of refugees who can be resettled only from certain countries - but Biden’s promise was still not kept. The delay in the PD leaves vulnerable refugees in limbo, often in unsafe conditions and separated from their families.

“It is profoundly heartbreaking to learn that Biden’s Administration will not raise the historically low refugee admission cap set by his predecessor. As a former refugee from Liberia, I'm deeply worried about the plights of thousands of refugees who are lingering in refugee camps waiting for resettlement to the United States,”  said Joseph Sackor, Refugee Congress Honorary Delegate (Pennsylvania). “The United States has always been the beacon of hope for hopeless and voiceless people around the world, and turning our back to the most vulnerable at this critical juncture doesn't represent our values as Americans.”

President Biden's decision to continue a record-low admissions goal of 15,000 is one with no moral justification. Refugees are the heart of our society, and our communities are ready to welcome.

“President Biden's decision to continue the previous Administration’s appallingly low refugee admissions goal is a promise broken - and it is unacceptable. These actions are leaving refugees in unsafe conditions and keeping families apart. We have the capacity and the moral obligation to be a country of welcome, and we must demand no less than that from our nation’s elected leaders," said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Refugee Congress Executive Director.

Refugee Congress calls on President Biden to keep his promise to #buildbackbetter by restoring our nation’s history of welcome immediately.

"President Biden's campaign promises are hollow words. His decision has now inflicted further trauma and detrimental consequences on the lives of our most persecuted, traumatized and vulnerable humans. Refusing to see refugees as humans is beyond problematic. It's downright cruel, shameful and inhumane,” said Nga Vương-Sandoval, Refugee Congress Delegate for Colorado.

Refugee Congress urges the president to welcome as many refugees as possible this fiscal year with a goal to set the Refugee Admissions Cap at 125,000 the following year and invest in rebuilding the resettlement program.

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Refugee Congress is a nonpartisan advocacy organization built and led by former refugees, asylum-seekers and other vulnerable migrants to promote the well-being, integration and dignity of all vulnerable migrants. With delegates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, we use our voices and experiences to inform and influence decision-makers on critical domestic and international issues that affect our communities.

MEDIA CONTACT: (202) 905-6238, media@refugeecongress.org