The Episcopal Church commends the Biden administration’s announcement of an ambitious refugee admissions target of 125,000 for FY2022. Our Church has long supported generous refugee admissions, and Episcopalians, working with Episcopal Migration Ministries and other resettlement agencies, provide meaningful support for refugees as they transition to their new homes and communities.
However, we remain concerned about the low number of arrivals through the United States Refugee Admissions Program. It is estimated there will be fewer than 25,000 refugee arrivals for this fiscal year ending September 30, which is well below the Presidential Determination of 125,000. We do recognize and laud the efforts of the Biden administration to provide refuge for tens of thousands of Afghans and Ukrainians through Operations Allies Welcome (OAW) and Uniting for Ukraine, and despite the challenges of rebuilding the refugee admissions program, it is essential that we continue to resettle all refugees as people waiting to be reunited with their families and those abroad remain at risk.
We urge the Biden administration to continue to commit to rebuilding and funding the resettlement infrastructure to dramatically increase the number of refugee arrivals this upcoming fiscal year through the United States Refugee Admissions Program.