The U.S. tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan was followed by calls to resettle Afghans who aided the nearly 20-year war effort. The Biden administration has celebrated thousands of evacuees, while the State Department estimated that most allies were left behind.
“The Report to Congress recommends an increase in the refugee admissions target from 62,500 in Fiscal Year 2021 to 125,000 in Fiscal Year 2022 to address needs generated by humanitarian crises around the globe,” State Department spokesman Ned Price stated. “A robust refugee admissions program is critical to U.S. foreign policy interests and national security objectives, and is a reflection of core American values.”
The Biden administration seeks to expand the resettlement of refugees from Central America while grappling with a migration surge at the southern border of the United States, as well as the resettlement of dissidents from Myanmar.
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On Monday, the State Department released a report to Congress calling to prioritize “expanded resettlement of Central Americans; enhanced access to the USRAP for Afghans at risk due to their affiliation with the United States; increased resettlement of LGBTQI+ refugees; priority access for at-risk Uyghurs, Hong Kong refugees, and Burmese dissidents; and resettlement of Burmese Rohingya.”
Biden announced plans to raise the refugee cap to 125,000 in February but described it as aspirational, cautioning it would take time. The president initially promised lawmakers he would maintain former President Donald Trump’s cap of 15,000, but he quickly relented under pressure.
"We're gonna increase the numbers," Biden vowed in April, acknowledging the problems at the border were a factor in his delay. "We couldn't do two things at once. And now we're going to increase the numbers.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who belongs to the left-wing "Squad," called Biden’s initial reluctance to expand the refugee cap back in April a “disgraceful decision.”
In May, Biden responded by raising the cap to 62,500. He campaigned on being more welcoming than Trump when it came to people from foreign countries but has also been mindful of the fraught politics of immigration — and reluctant to give Trump-aligned Republican opponents any openings against him.
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"The United States will soon be considered a Third World Nation," Trump declared in a Monday statement.
Biden’s cautious approach to Afghan refugees led some observers to recall his opposition to bringing South Vietnamese boat people to the U.S. following the end of the Vietnam War.
“The United States has no obligation to evacuate one, or 100,001, South Vietnamese,” he said in a Senate speech in 1975.
“F*** that. We don’t have to worry about that,” then-Vice President Biden is said to have told diplomat Richard Holbrooke of American obligations to Afghan residents, according to a Holbrooke biography written by journalist George Packer. “We did it in Vietnam. Nixon and Kissinger got away with it.”
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