President Biden Fulfills Pledge to Raise Refugee Admissions Cap to 62,500

WASHINGTON — On May 3, President Biden officially raised the U.S.’ refugee admissions cap for this fiscal year from an all-time low of 15,000 to 62,500. HIAS commends the Biden administration for taking this long-overdue action and acknowledging the vocal public support for refugee resettlement. Today’s announcement is an important step toward restoring America’s tradition of welcoming those in need of safety and leading by example on humanitarian issues.

“No act is more American or more Jewish than welcoming the stranger,” said Mark Hetfield, HIAS’ president and CEO. “We’re excited to see President Biden start to rebuild refugee resettlement. We know there are long months of work ahead to fully restore the resettlement program. As the Jewish refugee organization that has long been the U.S. government’s partner in refugee resettlement, HIAS and our network of partners across the country are ready and eager to help however we can.”

There is much work to be done to bring our refugee admissions system back to full health and capacity. Setting an increased refugee admissions ceiling this year lays the groundwork for increased welcoming capacity in future years. We expect the Biden administration to build quickly on this step forward, and we will continue urging the White House to fulfill its repeated promises to make America a beacon for refugees once again.