Biden acknowledges that the border is experiencing a crisis, but the number of refugees will increase

The president said that his administration “could not do two things at the same time”, referring to the increase in arrivals of children unaccompanied

Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images

President Joe Biden acknowledged that his government faces a crisis at the border, amid pressure from activists who forced him to increase the number of refugees the country will receive.

“We are going to increase the number (of refugees)” , said President Biden whose administration limited to 15, 000 that number of immigrants, which was imposed by the president’s government Donald Trump .

President Biden said his administration “could not do two things at the same time,” referring to efforts to address the arrival of unaccompanied children and adult undocumented immigrants to the border, something he had described as Adopted as an “emergency”, but now recognized as a crisis.

“The problem was that the issue of refugees is part of what was being worked on on the crisis that led to the border with young people” , He said. “We couldn’t do two things at once, so now we’re going to increase the number.”

During his campaign, President Biden promised a significant increase, above 60 , 000, the number of refugees that the US would accept. Defenders of people displaced globally by the war, mainly, demand that you keep your promise.

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition, which includes more than 600 leaders of groups that serve refugees, described as “unacceptable” the original decision of President Biden.

They added that the commitment of the president was increase to 62, 500 for the fiscal year 2021 the number of refugees and promised to resettle 100, 000 refugees in the fiscal year 2022.

“President Biden was elected on his promise to Build Back Better, to restore humanity to the way our government works,” He said Elissa Díaz, Church World Service Policy and Advocacy Manager and Co-Chair of the Coalition . “We call on the administration to listen to the communities in the United States… the same communities that helped elect the current administration, and review the admissions goal to 62, 500, as well as to resettle 125, 000 refugees next year ”.

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Center for Religious Action of Reformed Judaism, described the limitation as “irreparable damage”.

“We reject policies that exclude refugees from our borders,” he said. “The damage this decision will cause to refugees who have long awaited resettlement in the United States is irreparable.”

Decision under pressure

Following the pressure, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the 15 May, President Biden will set a new figure on the number of refugees , a program that is different from the asylum program, due to the applications of the former are reviewed from abroad before authorizing their trip to the country.

President Biden faces criticism from Republicans and conservative groups on immigration, due to the increase in arrivals at the border, which from February to March increased 100 percent in the case of unaccompanied children , while a rise of 71% as adults.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the 60% of people who They arrived at the border last and were deported and others were in the process. The 29% are people who had been previously expelled.