WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has signed the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2025, setting the refugee admissions target at 125,000.
This is higher than the 100,000 refugees resettled in the country in Fiscal Year 2024, which is the largest annual number in three decades.
'The admission of up to 125,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest,' Biden said in a Memorandum on the Presidential Determination.
The admissions numbers shall be allocated among refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States in accordance with the following regional allocations: Africa 30,000-50,000, East Asia 10,000-20,000, Europe and Central Asia 2,000-3,000, Latin America/Caribbean 35,000-50,000, and Near East/South Asia 30,000-45,000.
Biden has made it clear that refugees from Cuba, Eurasia and the Baltics, Iraq, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, if otherwise qualified, shall be considered for admission to the United States.
'This is a testament to our successful work to rebuild the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program with help from partners around the world and thousands of Americans across the country who have stepped up to sponsor refugees through the Welcome Corps,' Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
It is estimated that over a 15-year period, refugees contributed almost $124 billion to the U.S. economy. 'And resettlement offers the unique opportunity of a better life to some of the world's most vulnerable people, at a time of historic global levels of displacement,' Blinken said.
Building on the Administration's efforts to strengthen refugee resettlement and the generous support from Americans across the country, the refugee admissions target of 125,000 ensures the United States will continue to be a global leader in providing safety and opportunity for those facing persecution around the world, he added.
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