Blumenthal Statement on Biden Administration Cap on Refugee Admissions

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement in response to President Biden’s decision to limit the number of refugees accepted into the United States for the current fiscal year to the same historically low cap set by the Trump Administration:

“Turning our back on the worst refugee crisis in modern history is a tragic mistake. This cruel policy is no more acceptable now than it was during the Trump Administration. To be clear: the asylum process at the southern border and the refugee process are completely separate immigration systems. Conflating the two constitutes caving to the politics of fear.”

“President Biden’s decision reverses his previous commitment and denies safe haven to refugee seekers who have been fully vetted in intensive and years-long interviews and background investigations. The refugees we are abandoning include translators who have risked their lives serving our armed forces, Syrian children who have lost their entire families to armed conflict, Rohingya desperate to escape persecution and democratic protestors being shot in the streets in Burma, and Uyghurs and Hong Kongers fleeing political persecution in China.”

“This issue is about more than numbers and caps – it’s about real human beings and American values.”

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