Biden raises refugee cap to 62,500 after blowback, still well short of historic highs

The Biden administration announced on Monday it aims to accept up to 62,500 refugees into the US before year’s end. The move comes after the president faced intense criticism for initially announcing he would keep numbers where they were at the end of the Trump administration, at 15,000 refugees per year.

“This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” the White House said in a statement on Monday.

The decision was welcomed by migration advocates, though the revised target is still well below historic refugee resettlement numbers in the US. Some years have seen more than 200,000 refugees enter the country.

The president has vowed to raise refugee admissions to 125,000 for his firsts full fiscal year in office, 2021, which would be higher that targets set in the Obama administration.