In the wake of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election, local communities are preparing for an influx of refugees, with Biden’s promise to significantly raise the cap for refugees admitted in the country.
Over the past four years, the yearly cap for refugees allowed into the U.S. has been drastically cut under Trump. Biden has pledged to set the annual global refugee admissions cap to 125,000, and seek to raise it over time.
“The thing with getting restarted is so many systems are dismantled,” Leslie Aizenman, director of refugee and immigrant services at Jewish Family and Community Services, one of two agencies in Pittsburgh that currently resettle refugees, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “A lot of us are not equipped to go big fast.”
While the Biden team hasn’t detailed its plans, “Ms. Aizenman has heard speculation from her agency’s national affiliate that there might be some increases later in 2021, with a higher ceiling in 2022,” reports Peter Smith.
Megan Meagher, refugee resettlement director for Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska, told Nebraska’s Lincoln Star-Journal that “The landscape of refugee resettlement, we assume it’s going to change pretty drastically” with a new presidential administration.