President Biden Raises Refugee Cap to 62,500 in FY 2021

President Joe Biden revised the United States’ annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for fiscal year (FY) 2021, with a goal of 125,000 admissions for FY 2022. The announcement followed criticism after he announced plans to keep the number of refugee admissions at 15,000 this fiscal year primarily because of logistical concerns.

President Biden said that the “sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year. We are working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years.” He said that “we are going to rebuild what has been broken and push hard to complete the rigorous screening process for those refugees already in the pipeline for admission.”

Related Links:

• “Statement by President Joe Biden on Refugee Admissions,” White House, May 3, 2021
• “Biden, in Reversal, Raises the Refugee Admission Cap to 62,500 in the Next Six Months,” New York Times, May 3, 2021