Washington D.C., Apr 16, 2021 / 16:00 pm
President Joe Biden will increase the refugee admissions limit by May 15 - after reports that he would keep the refugee cap at its record-low level for this fiscal year.
“The President’s directive today has been the subject of some confusion. Last week, he sent to Congress his budget for the fiscal year starting in October 2021, which honors his commitment,” said a statement from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday afternoon.
The statement came hours after a senior administration official confirmed that the refugee cap would remain at the figure set by the Trump administration, a limit of 15,000 refugees to be admitted for the 2021 fiscal year.
“For the past few weeks, he has been consulting with his advisors to determine what number of refugees could realistically be admitted to the United States between now and October 1. Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely,” said Psaki. Biden in February announced the goal of resettling 62,500 refugees