By Curtis Brodner
(WASHINGTON) President Joe Biden is raising the refugee admission cap to 62,500 people per year just over two weeks after he faced widespread backlash for maintaining the Trump-era limit of 15,000 refugees per year, The Washington Post reported.
The administration predicted the nation will not meet the cap by the end of the year, though Biden says he plans to raise the cap to 125,000 per year in 2022.
“It is important to take this action today to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much, and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin,” said Biden, per The Post.
The increased limit will allow more refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Central America to seek shelter in the U.S. It also ends former President Donald Trump’s restrictions on people from Syria, Somalia and Yemen.