“The number of refugees who will be welcomed this year is far short of what we can do as a country and is not an adequate response to the immense resettlement need,” Bishop Mario Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C. and chair of the migration committee at the U.S. bishops’ conference, stated on Monday.
“The dire circumstances confronting refugees and asylees has been of particular concern for the Catholic Church,” he added.
On Friday, it was reported that the Biden administration would not increase the cap on refugee admissions for the remainder of the 2021 fiscal year; the current limit of 15,000 refugees to be resettled this year in the United States is the lowest on record.
The United States has accepted only 2,050 refugees in the current fiscal year, according to the International Rescue Committee. In February, President Biden promised to raise the refugee limit to 62,500. At the 40th anniversary celebration of Jesuit Refugee Services in November, Biden promised to eventually raise the limit to 125,000.
Currently, the refugee admissions cap is at 15,000, set by the Trump administration. President Trump progressively lowered the refugee admissions cap with each year of his administration.