The United States is a country of immigrants. People from all over the world have come to America for a chance to change their lives. Some came to escape economic hardship, to escape oppression, or to find refuge from persecution. Immigrants of every ethnicity and religion have had a profound influence on the United States, contributing significantly to its development.
In recent years, the United States changed the operation of the U.S. immigration and refugee system and severely limited the number of refugees and other immigrants permitted to resettle in the United States. President Biden continues to expand resettlement opportunities for all types of refugees and in greater number, including through his October 8 issuance of the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions, which raises the refugee admissions target to 125,000 for Fiscal Year 2022.
“The United States is, and will continue to be, a global leader in international humanitarian response, including in refugee resettlement,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a written statement.
We are “committed to rebuilding our U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in line with our long tradition of offering hope and safe haven to those fleeing persecution. We are diligently working to rebuild the infrastructure of the program, including by strengthening our refugee processing systems, providing new funding at the local and state levels to enhance the capacity of our domestic resettlement partners, and expanding community sponsorship programs.
“In our history as a nation, we have resettled more than 3.1 million refugees, and we are now also in the midst of safely welcoming in the United States tens of thousands of previously at-risk Afghans, reflections of our core American values to provide refuge to those in need. We recognize the tremendous social, economic, and cultural contributions refugees make to communities across the United States, and we are committed to rebuilding a robust U.S. Refugee Admissions Program while ensuring its integrity and protecting our national security interests,” said Secretary Blinken.
“A robust refugee admissions program is a cornerstone of the President’s commitment to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane migration system.”
