Biden backtracks on keeping Trump cap on refugees
President Joe Biden has reversed course hours after signing an order to keep the number of refugees admitted annually to the US at Trump-era levels.
Mr Biden drew ire on Friday as he held the cap at the historically low figure of 15,000, two months after he pledged to increase it to 65,500.
The White House later said Mr Biden would raise the refugee cap next month.
Reports say Mr Biden is concerned about letting in more people amid a record influx at the US-Mexico border.
UN figures indicate there are more than 80 million refugees worldwide, with 85% of them hosted by developing countries.
What did Biden’s order do?
The White House said Friday’s order would speed up refugee admissions to the US – since October around 2,000 people have been admitted under the programme.
The order also changes the allocation of who is allowed in, with more slots being provided to arrivals from Africa, the Middle East and Central America, and an end to restrictions on resettlements from Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
But Mr Biden kept the maximum number of refugees allowed in annually at 15,000, a ceiling set by his predecessor as president, Donald Trump.
Mr Biden stated the Trump-era cap “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest”.