Number of refugees for FY 2021 reaches record low

According to official figures first obtained by AP News (Associated Press), the number of refugees admitted to the US fell sharply during Fiscal Year (FY / October -September) 2021, reaching a record low of just 11,445 refugees.

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How does the refugee process work in the US?

The refugee process is a humanitarian program available to people who try to flee persecution due to their race, political opinion, religion, inter alia.

Migrants may apply for refuge when they are outside the US and must demonstrate that their safety is at risk in order to receive international assistance from this North American country. Usually, the US government must establish the refugee limit for each fiscal year.

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Background on the Situation

The fact that refugee admissions were alarmingly low in FY 2021 did not occur randomly. In fact, there are a number of events that influenced these figures and hindered the process for refugees.

For instance, the global Coronavirus pandemic paused immigration almost completely and the US closed its borders for a considerable period of time, leaving hundreds of thousands of refugees in limbo.

The refugee cap under the Trump administration

Aside from the global health crisis, the Trump administration always intended to limit or narrow humanitarian programs available to the most vulnerable foreign communities and replace them with a merit-based immigration system.

Hence, the previous administration significantly reduced the annual refugee cap. Let’s look at some important facts:

• For FY 2020, the Trump administration set the refugee cap at 18,000, a rather low figure compared to the Obama administration, which received 100,000 refugees annually.
• For FY 2021, in the midst of the sanitary emergency, the Trump administration reduced the refugee cap by 16% compared to 2020, to 15,000, the lowest number in recent history of the US.

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Biden increased refugee cap for FY 2021

President Biden took office in January 2021 and, as promised during his political campaign and after a gigantic social controversy, increased Trump’s refugee cap in early May to 62,500 for the remainder of FY 2021.

However, despite the Biden administration increasing the cap, the number of refugees admitted decreased during FY 2021, which is also related to the backlog of immigration cases across the US and long waiting times.

After a year as peculiar as 2020 and in the midst of an immigration-related debate, this is the right time to start your immigration journey in the US. Contact Motion Law Immigration and ask for your FREE Consultation with our experienced attorneys!

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