US Maintains Refugee Admissions Cap At 125,000
According to government statistics, the Biden administration plans to retain its goal of receiving up to 125k refugees in the next fiscal year, after it fell short of the same objective in the fiscal year of 2022.
Facts
- According to government statistics, the Biden administration plans to retain its goal of receiving up to 125k refugees in the next fiscal year, after it fell short of the same objective in the fiscal year of 2022.
- 125k, as well as the goal, is the cap on the maximum number of refugees that would be admitted through the program. The number does not include 180k Ukrainians and Afghans who will be admitted into the US through 'humanitarian parole' - refugees who enter America through this route are entitled to a maximum stay of two years.
- However, the new 125k figure does include 40k slots earmarked for refugees from Africa, 15k for those coming from East Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America, and 35k for near East and South Asia.
- Biden pledged to raise the refugee cap from a trough of 15k - established under the Trump administration - while campaigning to become President in 2020. He reversed his position last year, stating he would maintain the 15k limit, but the White House eventually raised the cap to 62.5k and later to 125k.
- Despite the raised cap, the US has admitted fewer than 20,000 refugees (only about 20% of the 125k target) so far during the 2022 fiscal year, which ends this Friday.
Sources: CBS, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and VOA.
Narratives
- Democratic narrative, as provided by CNN. Biden has set an ambitious target, but it is a benchmark he needs to reach if he is committed to rebuilding and strengthening the US Refugee Admissions Program. Experts on global humanitarian aid feel 125k is a justified goal, considering the turmoil and instability threatening peoples' lives and safety across the globe. As Americans, we must help those less fortunate and give them a new start.
- Republican narrative, as provided by BPR. There is no reason the US should be permitting more refugees to enter the country, when over two million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border this year alone. After the federal government has let them in, immigrants will not be going to the wealthy Democrat neighbourhoods that supported these policies, but to GOP-supporting, working-class towns.
