Mr. Biden promised during the presidential campaign last year to allow as many as 125,000 refugees annually. Two people familiar with the plan said he was not expected to announce how many more refugees could enter the country in 2021. Instead, they said, the final total would be prorated over the eight remaining months of the fiscal year to welcome more people than Mr. Trump had authorized, but the number would ultimately fall short of 125,000…
Given the dismal state of the refugee program, however, experts predicted that only a fraction of the people authorized in 2021 would be able to enter the United States by Sept. 30.
Citizenship and Immigration Services was funded for just 235 officers in the refugee corps in the fiscal year that ended on Oct. 1, compared with 352 in 2017, according to budget documents provided to Congress and obtained by The New York Times. Only 136 refugee officers were on staff as of Dec. 15, according to Michael Knowles, the president of AFGE Local 1924, which represents refugee officers. The Trump administration also severely limited referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the agency that has historically elevated a number of applicants.
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