Washington, DC – Earlier today, it seemed President Biden intended to break his promise to expand the number of refugees resettled by the United States in the current fiscal year. This evening, the White House clarified that President Biden WILL issue a new presidential determination on refugees by May 15, 2021, but that it is unlikely to be the 62,500 promised.
Refugees, people of faith, and the communities prepared to welcome them have been frustrated by the Administration’s delay in issuing a new presidential determination. Forty-two heads of communion and over 600 faith leaders and groups expressed this concern and reiterated the urgency of the moment. Further delay and a lessened commitment is unacceptable.
The faith community continues to insist that the Biden administration re-issue a revised admissions goal of 62,500 for FY 2021, and commit to resettling 125,000 refugees in FY 2022.
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said: “Not raising the 2021 refugee resettlement cap would be a destructive abandonment of values. As Jews, we reject policies that shut out refugees from our borders. The damage this decision will do to refugees who’ve long awaited resettlement in the U.S. is irreparable.”
Elissa Diaz, Policy and Advocacy Manager at Church World Service and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition added: “President Biden was elected on his promise to Build Back Better, to restore humanity in the way our government works. Today was a day of heartbreak and outrage. We call on the administration to listen to the communities across the United States who know America can do better—the same communities that helped elect the current administration—and revise the admissions goal to 62,500, as well as to resettle 125,000 refugees next year.”
“Refugees around the world have been living a nightmarish rollercoaster for several years – traumatized by Covid, fearful in their current situations. They have survived abuse and lawlessness; torture and corruption. Their hopes were raised – our expectations were raised – when President Biden took office and he promised to greatly increase the number of refugees our country welcomes. Our Catholic faith calls us to welcome and offer safe harbor. The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd calls on President Biden to keep his promise and raise the refugee limit,” said Lawrence E. Couch, director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Tammy Gilden, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the network hub of 125 local Jewish councils and 16 national Jewish agencies, including the four denominations of American Judaism, said: “Maintaining a record low FY21 refugee admissions cap would have devastating consequences at a time when the need for the U.S. to be a safe haven could not be greater. The Jewish people know firsthand the consequences of turning away those fleeing persecution. We urge the President to uphold his promise to restore U.S. leadership in refugee resettlement.”
Sister Marie Lucey, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network stated: “If President Biden were to go back on his promise to set a presidential determination goal of 62,500 refugees in 2021, Franciscan Action Network would be deeply disturbed. That would be a betrayal of the expectations and hopes of thousands of refugees who believed his assurance. President Biden must keep his promise, and the faith community stands ready to assist in whatever ways we can.”
“When we talk about refugees we are talking about people: people fleeing persecution, people seeking the promise of a better life, said Rabbi Nora Feinstein, director of organizing at T’ruah. “The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. In the selection from II Kings which Jews around the world read this weekend, four sick, starving people sit at the border of the Israelite camp in the midst of a famine. In desperation, they end up going out to another abandoned camp and sharing the resources they find there with the very community that shunned them, saving their lives in the process. The ones kept at the border, the ones denied entry, were the ones who enabled all to regain strength, vigor, and health. Our traditions and our conscience call us to welcome the refugees seeking entry and looking to live their lives in peaceful relationship with all those who call this nation home.”
Added Ann Scholz, SSND, Associate Director for Social Mission LCWR: “The Leadership Conference of Women Religious calls on President Biden’s keep his promise to increase the Presidential Determination for 2021. More than 79 million people have been forced to flee their homes; 29 million are refugees; most are children. Failing to keep this commitment in the face of an unprecedented global refugee crisis would be unacceptable.
“The United States has a long history of welcoming refugees. We have the resources, the ability and a moral obligation to resettle 62,500 refugees as President Biden promised. Our failure to do all that we can would leave vulnerable refugees, including women and children, in extreme danger. Women religious have been blessed to be able to accompany and serve refugee communities across this country for a very long time. Catholic sisters remain committed to welcoming refugees.”
Susan Gunn, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns said: “Maryknoll missioners work in refugee camps and communities around the world and know the bitter suffering they have endured, especially given the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States cannot once again turn its back on the world’s most vulnerable at their hour of need.”
Said Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, The United Church of Christ Associate General Minister for Wider Church Ministries: “The UCC supports the admission of refugees at the higher numbers President Biden committed to in February. Reducing the admissions goal from 62,000 would leave refugees who are already cleared for resettlement in the United States stranded around the world. We will continue to advocate for higher resettlement numbers here in the US. The numbers of refugees needing to be resettled is at crisis levels and the US should play its part in providing hospitality and homes as committed.”
Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries, expressed: “Every day a decision has been delayed to raise the Presidential Determination continues to lead to lives lost, opportunities crushed, and families separated. Our faith values call us to do the very opposite; to welcome, to provide hope for resurrected opportunities, and to restore the unity of families and communities. Our congregations are ready to welcome. And, as faith partners who believe refugee resettlement has offered one of our nation’s most bi-partisan forms of community strengthening throughout history, we urge President Biden to follow his original instinct to raise refugee numbers to at least 62,500 this year, and restore refugee numbers to historic averages until our nation leads with moral values of hospitality and generosity.”
Ronnate Asirwatham, Director, Government Relations, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said: “Lowering the number of refugees who can enter the country this year. along with continuing implementation of the Title 42 order and stifling the right to seek asylum, would mean that the U.S. effectively remains a country violating its own values of welcome. We pray that the administration and the Congress will see the human dignity of all immigrants and will restore all immigration pathways to the U.S.”
“We call on the President to follow through with his commitment to raise the refugee admissions goal for this fiscal year. The country has the capacity to resettle them, the infrastructure to serve them, and the people to love them,” said Elket Rodríguez, Immigrants and Refugees Advocacy and Missions Specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest. “We ask the President to raise the refugee resettlement admissions goal to 62,500 for this fiscal year as he promised the American people.”
“The Torah instructs us to welcome and love the stranger, va’ahavtem et ha-ger. This is repeated 36 times, far more often than any other Jewish law, stressing its importance to Jewish values,” said Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. “President Biden cannot break his commitment to raising the cap on the amount of refugees who can enter the country. That would leave thousands of refugees who are ready to come to the US in limbo. The United States has the resources to welcome refugees, we just need the will.”
Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director for Migration Policy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, said: “Until today, we expected an announcement that would restore U.S leadership in this area, not renege. The need has never been greater or the time more urgent. As the ELCA has done throughout its history, we urge our elected officials to honor and continue our nation’s tradition of leadership in caring for refugees. The ELCA’s social message on immigration states our belief, ‘that our country has a responsibility to increase the number of refugees it admits.’ We will continue to advocate for raising the refugee cap.”
The only way forward is for President Biden to restore the U.S. refugee resettlement program by welcoming as many refugees as possible this fiscal year by revising the admissions goal to the promised 62,500, and honoring his commitment to resettling 125,000 refugees in FY 2022.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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