Biden raises refugee admissions cap to 62,500 after criticism

Refugee advocates slammed US President Joe Biden last month after he went back on a plan to raise the admissions limit.

Joe Biden is raising the United States’ refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year after refugee advocates slammed the US president last month for walking back an earlier pledge to increase the limit. In a statement on Monday, Biden said the new cap would “reinforce efforts that are already underway to expand the United States’ capacity to admit refugees”, as well as help his administration reach its stated goal of admitting 125,000 refugees in the 2022 fiscal year. “This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” Biden’s statement reads.