Storm Against Biden’s False Refugee Promises

– This is an unbelievable disappointment. The United States is the most powerful country in the world, and this is the best we can achieve? Ali Noorani, president of the National Migration Forum, tells the Washington Post, and is backed by politicians and other immigration organizations.

Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, told the New York Times: “We are facing the biggest refugee crisis of our time and there is no reason to limit ourselves to 15,000 people. Please, tell me it’s not true, President Joe.”

Tens of thousands are in line

15,000 is a historically low number. Biden said in February that he wanted to increase it to 62,500 this fiscal year, and to 125,000 the next year.

But those plans seem to go nowhere, according to the Washington Post, because the Biden White House does not want to appear “soft” on the immigration issue – a common Republican offensive point.

At the same time, 35,000 refugees around the world have already been approved to enter the United States, but they are not yet permitted to enter the country, but they must remain in refugee camps. The criticism also comes after the spring in which Biden got rice for not doing enough to improve the situation on the border with Mexico in general, and especially for unaccompanied children detained in the United States pending a decision.

Message only in May?

After a storm of criticism on Friday, Biden’s press secretary, Jane Psaki, was forced to defend the information late Friday, saying that the criticism was based entirely on misunderstanding, that the exact number had not yet been determined, and that the official announcement could be delayed until May 15. .

Psaki said that in recent weeks, (Biden) had discussed with his advisers about the number of refugees we could realistically receive until October, adding that the budget presented to Biden last week includes an increase in the number of refugees.

But with the collapsing infrastructure and reception program that we inherited from the previous government, it is very unlikely that we will reach the original target of 62,500.

Martin Yingve / TT