Adam Shaw
Fox NewsSat, 17 Apr 2021 00:00 UTC
© Nicholas Konrad/KJN
on Friday said that President Biden is expected to increase the refugee cap for this fiscal year,
just hours after he signed an order that kept it at Trump-era levels and sparked fury from congressional Democrats."The President's directive today has been the subject of some confusion," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in an afternoon statement.
Former President Donald Trump lowered the refugee cap for FY 2021 to 15,000 -- something the Biden had pledged both during the campaign and his first days in office to raise.
Biden had promised to increase the cap to 125,000 for the next fiscal year, which begins in October. He also said he would work with Congress to make a "down payment" on that number.
In the meantime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed to Congress lifting the cap to 62,000 for this fiscal year.However, the administration announced Friday that Biden was signing an emergency presidential determination to keep the number at 15,000 while changing the regional allocation of who is brought in --
allowing more slots from Africa, the Middle East and Central America, while ending restrictions on Somalia, Yemen and Syria.It brought immediate and widespread criticism from left-wing Democrats and immigrant activist groups.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said:
"This Biden Administration refugee admissions target is unacceptable. These refugees can wait years for their chance and go through extensive vetting. Thirty-five thousand are ready. Facing the greatest refugee crisis in our time there is no reason to limit the number to 15,000. Say it ain't so, President Joe."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, said:
"Completely and utterly unacceptable. Biden promised to welcome immigrants, and people voted for him based on that promise. Upholding the xenophobic and racist policies of the Trump admin, incl the historically low + plummeted refugee cap, is flat out wrong."
In the later statement indicating
the number could go higher than 15,000, Psaki said that Biden had been consulting with advisors to
"determine what number of refugees could realistically be admitted to the United States between now and October 1. Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely."
This was a reference to the ongoing crisis at the southern border, of which
the ORR is a key agency in dealing with migrant children.Psaki then said that with the reforms to the refugee admissions in place,
a new updated cap will be announced before the middle of May:
"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."
The controversy represents the latest political difficulty for the Biden administration, which has been facing intense pushback over its handling of the continued crisis at the southern border.
The administration has
overseen a dramatic surge in migration -- including unaccompanied children -- which has led to shocking images of
packed migrant facilities and children being dumped by smugglers at the border.
The administration has been scrambling to cope with the influx, building new facilities and trying to get other countries to increase troop presences at their borders.
But critics have accused the administration of fueling the crisis by rolling back Trump-era border protections and policies.
Comment: An idea, when proven over-and-over across the board to be unworkable and detrimental
to all parties involved, is not an advantageous course of action. The 'ideological cling-ons' of the Democratic party show just how unintelligent they are and how stubborn their mindset.
Biden explains his 'caving' on refugee cap:
President Biden is finally calling the chaos at the southern border what it is — a crisis. The startling rhetorical turnabout came Saturday in an off-the-cuff conversation with reporters in Wilmington, Del., as Biden tried to defend his Friday flip-flop on refugee admissions. Biden said, as he headed home after playing the first golf game of his presidency:
"We're going to increase the number [of refugees allowed into the country]. The problem was that the refugee part was working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people. We couldn't do two things at once. But now we are going to increase the number."
In his somewhat garbled comment, Biden seemed to be saying that the strain of handling the influx of migrant children has overtaxed the nation's immigration authorities — making it impossible for them to handle an increase in authorized refugees as well. But in his justification, Biden may have given his press office a new headache, by using the very word — "crisis" — his administration, including Psaki and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, has staunchly been avoiding for months.
Update 19/4/2021: Hold on a minute...there's some confusion and, surprise-surprise,
what he meant by 'crisis' was:
Arguing that President Joe Biden's words aren't the official position of his administration, the White House said his use of "crisis" was referring to something completely different and not the surge of migrants at the border.
During a game of golf and photo-op on Saturday, Biden told reporters he hadn't raised the refugee admission cap because of "working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people and we couldn't do two things at once," in what seemed like a straightforward description of the situation at the US-Mexico border.
Except on Monday, unnamed White House officials speaking to CNN were trying to walk back the president's words. "No, there is no change in position. Children coming to our border seeking refuge from violence, economic hardships and other dire circumstances is not a crisis."
Biden "was referring to the crisis in Central America - the dire circumstances so many are fleeing from. He was not referring to the Federal Government's response," CNN's anonymous source maintained. This was then echoed by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday afternoon:
"The president does not feel that children coming to our border seeking refuge from violence, economic hardships, and other dire circumstances is a crisis. He does feel that the crisis in Central America - the dire circumstances that many are fleeing from - that that is a situation we need to spend our time or effort on and we need to address it if we're going to prevent more of an influx of migrants from coming in years to come."
This obsession with terminology - and the efforts to explain away Biden's own words - did not go unnoticed on the other side of the aisle. Congressman Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) tweeted that not only has Biden not visited the border, "his own administration is now walking back his own words."
Steve Guest, staffer for Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), called it "insane spin" and pointed out that, "According to the Biden White House, what Joe Biden says does not represent the official position of the Biden administration."
Update 19/4/2021:
More sudden changes afoot?:
Joe Biden's administration has closed a migrant shelter located at a warehouse in Houston housing hundreds of unaccompanied underage girls, after media reported conditions there were "unbearable."
The Houston area shelter operated by the National Association of Christian Churches (NACC) saw a flurry of activity over the weekend as buses arrived and departed to transfer some 500 young girls living there elsewhere. Nearly 130 of the girls were expected to be handed over to the care of a sponsor, while others were set to be transferred to different facilities or reunited with relatives.
Reports by US media suggested conditions at the 'Emergency Intake Site' were less than humane. Hundreds of girls, aged between 13 and 17 on average, spent most of their days on makeshift cots surrounded by boxes in an overcrowded warehouse-turned-shelter.
Cesar Espinoza, the head of migrant civil rights organization FIEL, who visited the facility, said the girls "were not allowed to get up, unless it was to shower, or to use the restroom. Even their meals were delivered to their cots." Espinoza also said that he saw "desperation" in the girls' eyes that was "unbearable and incredible." Another source said girls were eventually told to use plastic bags for toilets since there were not even people to accompany them to a restroom.
A White House spokesperson told the network the facility was closed because it "did not meet the Biden administration's very high standard for child welfare."
Perhaps it's time to ask who wants to return to their own country?
At least that is the most likely play book.