The US State Department has sent a report to Congress recommending that the number of refugees that the country can accept in a year to 125 thousand people. The current figure of 62.5 thousand people was set by US President Joe Biden after criticism for refusing to increase the quota set by his predecessor Donald Trump.
“The report recommends to Congress to increase the target of admission of refugees from 62.5 thousand in 2021 fiscal year to 125 thousand in 2022 fiscal year to meet the needs caused by humanitarian crises around the world,” – stated in the statement of the State Department. The agency notes that the refugee reception program is critical to US foreign policy and national security, and also “reflects indigenous American values.”
Donald Trump, during his presidency, set the quota for accepting refugees at 15 thousand – the lowest in modern US history. By the end of the current fiscal year, September 30, the number of refugees admitted will not reach the quota set by Mr. Biden, despite the admission of people from Afghanistan, the Associated Press notes. Note that in September, the sending of Afghan refugees to the United States was suspended due to an outbreak of measles among those who arrived in the country. The day before, the American contingent at the Ramstein airbase in Germany announced that it had vaccinated the refugees at the base against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
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