AOC rips into Biden for keeping ‘racist’ Trump-era refugee cap

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, on Friday tore into President Biden for keeping refugee admissions at 15,000 for this fiscal year, the same levels set by the Trump administration -- with the Democratic congressman calling the levels "xenophobic and racist."

"Completely and utterly unacceptable. Biden promised to welcome immigrants, and people voted for him based on that promise," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

The Trump administration dramatically reduced the number of refugees the U. S. brought in every year, down to just 15,000 for FY2021.

A senior administration official said Friday that Biden will be signing an emergency presidential determination to keep the number at 15,000 while changing the regional allocation of who is brought in -- allowing more slots from Africa, the Middle East and Central America, while ending restrictions on Somalia, Yemen and Syria.

However, hours later the White House issued a new statement, saying that Biden will set "a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15."

Biden had said in February that he would increase the cap to 125,000 for the next fiscal year, which begins in October. He also said he would work with Congress to make a "down payment" on that number. In the meantime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed to Congress lifting the cap to 62,000 for this fiscal year.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki Friday conce... (Read more)

Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1383120325454467072

Latest News