WTAS: Joe Biden Breaks Campaign Promise to Raise Refugee Cap

The New York Times: “What had been an easy promise on the campaign trail — to reverse what Democrats called President Donald J. Trump’s “racist” limits on accepting refugees — has become a test of what is truly important to the new occupant of the White House.”

Joe Biden has been on the defensive after not holding up his campaign promise to raise the cap for the number of refugees the United States would admit into the country. 

Democrats called President Donald Trump’s refugee cap number “racist” last year. This year, Biden’s administration maintained that “racist” number before reversing itself under pressure.

Politico: “Facing condemnations from within their own party, the Biden administration quickly backtracked Friday on a decision to keep U.S. refugee admissions limited to 15,000 this year.”

The New York Times: “Within hours, the president backtracked. The White House issued a statement saying Mr. Biden still intended to allow more refugees into the country and promising to reveal more details by May 15.”

CNBC: “President Joe Biden said on Saturday he will raise the cap on the number of refugees admitted this year to the United States, a day after he drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers for agreeing to keep the historically low figure in place.”

Mother Jones: “Psaki said Friday afternoon that the 15,000 cap for 2021 is ‘just the beginning.’ And hours later, after much backlash from allies, Psaki sent out a statement saying the directive had been ‘subject to some confusion,’ and that we could expect Biden to ‘set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of the fiscal year by May 15.’”

Democrats were outraged by President Biden’s reversal from his campaign promise. Progressive leader Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez accused the administration of being xenophobic and racist for upholding the status quo and Senator Richard Blumental called the administration’s policy “cruel.”

Senator Dick Durbin: “Say it ain’t so, President Joe. This is unacceptable. Refugees wait years for their chance and go through extensive vetting—35,000 are ready today. I urge the Biden Administration to reconsider this decision and stick to their promise of increasing refugee admissions.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal: “This cruel policy is no more acceptable now than it was during the Trump administration.”

Representative Pramila Jayapal: “By failing to sign an Emergency Presidential Determination to lift Trump’s historically low refugee cap, President Biden has broken his promise to restore our humanity.”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “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. Keep your promise.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was grilled on the administration’s refugee cap reversal. The conversation with a reporter turned tense at times and relied on a revealing story from the New York Times showing how dysfunction within the administration led to the policy mess.