Refugee advocates urge Biden to meet admissions target

Refugee advocates are urging US President Joe Biden's administration to reach the 125,000 target set for refugee admissions.

This follows the signing this week of a new Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions keeping the admissions target at 125,000 for the fiscal year of 2023.

This comes after fewer than 20,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2022 have been resettled so far, or less than 16 per cent of the 125,000 goal.

"Over the past year, communities across the country have welcomed people displaced from Afghanistan and Ukraine who arrived via humanitarian parole, but permanent resettlement through the refugee program has remained historically low," Sunil Varghese, policy director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, said in a statement. 

"Specifically, the Biden administration must work to promptly reunite separated refugee families, build a permanent robust private sponsorship of refugees program that adds resettlement capacity, and take steps to protect the program from future disruption," he said. "Meeting the refugee admissions goal of 125,000 refugees should be realistic, not just aspirational."

Similarly, another refugee advocacy group, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, commended the Biden administration for again setting the refugee admissions cap at 125,000, though expressed concern that the target, like the previous year, would not be met.

"While HIAS has advocated for a higher target of 200,000 for refugee admissions in FY23, we commend President Biden for maintaining a robust goal for the coming year – one of several important steps the administration has taken to rebuild the US Refugee Admissions Program, which helps people facing persecution and violence around the world to find safety in this country," said Melanie Nezer, HIAS' senior vice president for global public affairs, in a public statement.

"At the same time," Nezer added, "we must acknowledge that this year's goal was also set for 125,000, but by the end of August, the US had settled fewer than 20,000. That makes it clear just how much work must be done to get USRAP back on its feet, and that is why we are renewing our calls for program reforms so that we can meet the administration's target in the coming year."

"A strong US refugee resettlement program is an expression of our core American values," she concluded.

Earlier this month, 385 state and local officials from all 50 states signed a bipartisan letter calling on Biden to meet his administration's pledge to resettle refugees in the fiscal year of 2023 by restoring the country's refugee resettlement infrastructure. 

Most presidents do not tend to meet their refugee admissions targets, but they are generally much closer than 16 per cent to the goal. Much of the dismantling of the refugee admissions programme occurred under former President Donald Trump. Biden's admissions rates remain similar to his predecessor's.