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Biden has flip-flopped on his flip-flop.
“After blowback from allies, White House says President Biden will move to lift Trump-era refugee caps next month,” the
Associated Press reported Friday evening. While finalizing that determination, the president was urged to take immediate action to reverse the Trump policy that banned refugees from many key regions, to enable flights from those regions to begin within days; today’s order did that. With that done, we expect the president to set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Updated: Apr 17 2021, 1:06 ET
PRESIDENT JOE Biden rolled back his intent to keep the refugee cap at the Trump era level after backlash from left-wing Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The White House said earlier on Friday that it will maintain the annual refugee cap at 15,000 a year, the same level it was under former President Donald Trump, according to a press briefing on Friday.
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Customs and Border Protection said in a report this month that over 170,000 migrantsCredit: AFP
Later Friday afternoon, however, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden will increase the refugee cap by May 15.
Psaki didn’t specify a number for the new refugee cap but said meeting Biden’s initial goal of 62,500 is “unlikely” because of the “decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement,” she added in a White House statement.
The White House has walked back from keeping the current cap of 15,000 annual refugee admissions set by former President Donald Trump, hours after the decision evoked widespread backlash from Democratic lawmakers and civic groups.White House .
Biden administration walks back refugee cap plans after blowback
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Hundreds of asylum seekers set up tents by the port of entry at El Chaparral plaza in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 26. Photo by Ariana Drehsler/UPI | License Photo
President Joe Biden initially pledged to raise the cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 for this fiscal year. Photo by Andrew Harrer/UPI | License Photo
White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks to reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Stefani Reynolds /UPI | License Photo
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said President Biden should keep his pledge to raise the number of refugee admissions. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo