“I think what the president has and the White House has said today is that based on what we’ve seen now in terms of the legacy and being able to see what was there, what we could put in place, how soon we could do it. It will be very difficult to hit 62,000 this fiscal year, “Blinken told ABC News, adding that a Trump-era policy ban on refugees from the Middle East and Africa” has now been lifted. ” and refugees in the pipeline are now eligible to apply for asylum in the US.
Under pressure about whether the government would accept 125,000 refugees next year, Blinken replied, “ Look, the president has made it clear where he wants to go, but we need to, you know, be focused on what we can do if we’re in able to do it. ”
The president reversed course again on Saturday, saying his government will raise the refugee ceiling.
“President Biden’s ultimate goal will largely reflect his commitment to bringing refugees to the United States as much as possible, consistent with our ability to handle them,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” .
Sullivan, who, like Blinken, noted that Biden had lifted restrictions on refugees from certain African and Muslim-majority countries, similarly said the White House was struggling with a system that had been dismantled under the previous administration.
“What will drive our determination are the practical questions of whether we can fix the absolutely shattered system we were left with to process refugees,” he told Bash.