Biden quadruples Trump refugee cap after backlash

He faced blowback for delay in replacing the ceiling set by his predecessor

President Joe Biden formally raised the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by former President Donald Trump. Refugee resettlement agencies have waited for Mr. Biden to quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year since February 12, when a presidential proposal was submitted to Congress saying he planned to do so. But the presidential determination went unsigned until Monday. Mr. Biden said he first needed to expand the narrow eligibility criteria put in place by Mr. Trump that had kept out most refugees. He did that last month in an emergency determination. But it also stated that Mr. Trump’s cap of up to 15,000 refugees this year “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest”, indicating that Mr.Biden intended to keep it.