President Biden
Joe BidenSuspect used two assault rifles he legally bought in FedEx shootings: US Police, China Say They Are ‘Committed’ To Climate Change Cooperation DC Goes To The Dogs – Major And Champ, That’s MORE on Saturday stated his initial decision not to raise the limit on the admission of refugees to the United States, stating that his government “could not do two things at once”.
Speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Del., At the end of a golf session on Saturday, Biden explained that he was initially unable to raise the limit due to the burdens facing the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) due to an influx of unaccompanied minors. migrants on the southern border.
‘We are going to increase the number. The problem was that the refugee section was dealing with the crisis that ended with young people on the border, ”Biden said, according to a White House pool report.
‘We couldn’t do two things at the same time. But now we are going to increase the number, ”he continued.
The comment comes a day after the White House changed course on a decision to keep the number of refugees entering the US at Trump-era levels. The decision was made after a backlash from Democrats who wanted to see a higher limit.
Biden signed an order on Friday maintaining the 15,000 refugee cap for fiscal year 2021, a controversial number set by former President Trump
Donald TrumpDC Goes To The Dogs – Major And Champ, That’s Biden On Refugee Hat: ‘We Couldn’t Do Two Things At Once’ Taylor Greene Defends ‘America First’ Effort, Pushes Critics Back MORE‘s administration. It’s also well below the 62,500 limit that Biden wanted to put in place by 2021.
Several Democratic lawmakers, including members of the “squad,” tweeted to reject the Biden government’s decision.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), the president called on “to stop [his] pledge to “welcome immigrants”.
“Maintaining the Trump administration’s xenophobic and racist policies, including the historically low + plunged refugee hat, is downright wrong”, she tweeted
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), A beneficiary of the refugee program, said on Twitter “It is a shame that @POTUS is neglecting an important pledge to welcome refugees.”
A powerful Senate Democrat, chairman of the Judicial Committee Dick Durbin (Ill.), Said the “target for admission of refugees from the Biden administration is unacceptable.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Jen PsakiBiden on refugee hat: ‘We couldn’t do two things at the same time’ Biden, Japanese prime minister focuses on China, North Korea during the first bilateral meeting Castro confirms he is stepping down as Cuban leader MORE later on said that a a new, higher ceiling would be set on 15 May.
Like Biden’s comments on Saturday, Psaki said the original decision was the result of changes Trump and ORR made to the influx of unaccompanied migrant children at the border.
“In recent weeks, he has been consulting with his advisers to determine how many refugees could realistically be admitted into the United States between now and October 1,” Psaki said in part. “Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited and the burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial target of 62,500 seems unlikely.
ORR is the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for housing the minors.
The Wall Street Journal reported that it has already spent $ 1.3 billion of its budget dealing with the influx of migrants, which would likely make it difficult to raise the refugee ceiling.
Biden aims to raise the refugee ceiling to 125,000 in his first year of office, and to that end has applied for a budget of $ 4.3 billion for ORR for 2022.