President Biden issued an executive order on Thursday to increase refugee admissions and allow the U.S. to provide a safe haven for 125,000 people around the world fleeing violence, conflict and persecution during its first full financial year in office.
In the order, Mr. Biden called for an expansion of the decades-old U.S. refugee program, which was scrapped by former President Trump, who regularly portrayed refugees as economic and security risks. After former President Obama set a ceiling of 110,000 people before leaving office, Mr. Trump is cutting it every fiscal year and allocating a historically low 15,000 seats in 2020.
During a speech earlier Thursday at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Biden said the goal is to set a ceiling of 125,000 people for the fiscal year 2022, which begins in October. Mr. Biden also said he had instructed the State Department to consult Congress “on the payment of the commitment as soon as possible”, suggesting he could raise the ceiling of 15,000 for the current financial year.
“It’s going to take time to rebuild what was so badly damaged, but that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he said. Biden said during his remarks, pointing out that the resettlement of refugees has historically enjoyed support from two parties.
Last week, the United Nations refugee agency reported that countries worldwide received less than 23,000 refugees in 2020, the lowest number in nearly two decades, in part due to travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. The agency said 1.44 million of the more than 20 million refugees helping them in different countries are urgently needed for relocation.
According to the latest data from the State Department, the US received less than 12,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2020 and received nearly 1,000 between October and December.
The modern American refugee program, established in 1980, is designed to provide protection to people abroad who, on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group such as the LGBT community word.
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In his order Thursday, Mr. Biden states that his government will prioritize the resettlement of women, children and others facing persecution because of their gender or sexual orientation. He also instructed to investigate ways to help people who are being abandoned climate change, among other things by relocating them to the USA
Earlier this week, Democratic representatives Jerrold Nadler and Zoe Lofgren Biden urged to draw up refugee policies that take into account migration fueled by climate change, especially from Central America, a region plagued by two hurricanes last fall. The World Bank has estimated that 1.4 million people in Mexico and Central America could migrate by 2050 due to the effects of climate change, including crop failures.
“We are very encouraged to see that Biden’s government is in line with our recommendations and that they are embarking on rebuilding this historically dual program and returning the United States to its leading position on the world stage,” Nadler and Lofgren said. written in their writing. letter.
Shortly after taking office in 2017, Mr. Trump temporarily suspended the refugee program, arguing that more investigative procedures should be implemented. In addition to the dramatic reduction in admissions, Mr. Trump also issued an order allowing states and local jurisdictions to impede the resettlement of refugees in their communities.
On Thursday, Biden, through his order, obeyed the instructions of Mr. Trump recalled.
Mr. Biden has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to allow it to interrogate refugees with remote interviews, and demands that the Office of Personnel Management support the hiring of more refugees. The president also called for the expansion of private and community sponsorship for refugees, a partnership the Canadian government has relied on.
Mr. Trump’s changes have spurred non-profit groups to help the government resettle refugees, close offices, lay off staff and lose federal funds.
Matthew Soerens, the director of church mobilization at World Relief, one of the resettlement agencies, said his group closed eight offices during the Trump administration. He said resettlement of 125,000 refugees would probably be impossible during the rest of the 2021 financial year, given the current infrastructure.
“We are really eager to rebuild and excited for the opportunity,” Soerens told CBS News. “But we are also doing it as fast as we can with limited resources. It is not going to be something that is going to be rebuilt overnight.”
Resettlement agencies receive refugees when they arrive in the US and help them with housing, finding work, enrolling their children in schools and other matters to facilitate their integration into American communities.
Meredith Owen, the director of policy and advocacy at Church World Service, another resettlement agency, reflected Soerens’ comments.
“We will need the Biden government to take concrete steps to rebuild the overseas and domestic infrastructure to relocate the number of refugees we hope to have in the next four years,” Owen told CBS News. and said the processing of refugees should also be speeded up.
The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service has closed or suspended services at 17 of its 48 resettlement offices over the past four years. While Krish Vignarajah, the group’s president, acknowledged the logistical challenges of admission to refugees, he acknowledged the symbolism of Mr. Biden emphasizes.
“Raising the ceiling will literally be life-saving for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence and persecution because of the color of their skin, how they worship or whom they love,” Vignarajah told CBS News.