The Biden Administration recently increased the refugee income limit to 125,000 for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1 to September 30, 2022. This comes after a recent move by President Joe Biden to increase the refugee admissions cap for the current fiscal year from 15,000 to 62,500.
Why Were Refugee Caps Raised?
President Biden vowed to increase refugee caps in the first fiscal year during his presidency. However, he faced much opposition and had to back off. However, he managed to raise refugee admissions to 62,500 for the first year. To make good on his promise, President Biden has set the target of inviting over 125,000 refugees in the next fiscal year.
Restrictive policies and historically low admission caps for refugees under President Trump affected the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)’s ability to process refugees. This is the reason why the USCIS has only been able to invite 7,637 refugees to the United States, the lowest in 40 years. However, this number doesn’t include the Afghans who accompanied the withdrawing US troops on special immigrant visas as they have not been classified as “refugees” yet.
Who Will Be Welcomed As a Refugee Under the New Visa Cap?
The 125,000 refugee admission cap will be distributed among refugees from different countries as follows:
- Africa- 35,000
- The Middle East and Southeast Asia- 35,000
- East Asia-15,000
- Latin America and the Caribbean- 15,000
- Europe and Central Asia- 10,000
- Unassigned- 10,000
