“I think what the President and the White House said today is that it is based on what we have now seen in terms of the inheritance and that we could look at what was in place, what we could put in place, how fast we can put it in place, it’s going to be very difficult to reach the 62,000 this fiscal year, “Blinken told ABC News, adding that a Trump-era policy ban on refugees from the Middle East and Africa” has now been lifted is, “and refugees in the pipeline are now eligible to seek asylum in the US.
Asked if the government would accept 125,000 refugees next year, Blinken replied: ‘Look, the president was clear about where he wanted to go, but we need to be, you know, focused on what we can do when we’ re able is to do so. ‘
The president turned around again on Saturday, saying his government would increase the refugee cap.
“President Biden’s ultimate goal will very much reflect his commitment to bringing refugees to the United States to the maximum extent consistent with our ability to process it,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash on ‘State of the Union’.
Sullivan, who, like Blinken, noted that Biden had removed restrictions on refugees from certain African and Muslim countries, also said the White House was waging a struggle with a system that had been dismantled under the previous government.
“What will drive our determination is the practical questions of whether we can fix the absolutely shattered system with which we were able to process refugees,” he told Bash.