Biden resettles fewer refugees than Trump in new record low

The Biden administration resettled the lowest number of refugees in the history of the admissions program after making promises to revitalize a process largely stalled under former President TrumpDonald TrumpTop US and Israeli security officials to discuss Iran, Palestinians in Washington State AG seeks meeting with TikTok CEO over ‘Slap a Teacher’ challenge On The Money — Presented by NRHC — Biden plays debt limit hardball with McConnell MORE.

The Biden administration resettled 11,455 refugees by the close of the fiscal year that ended Friday, according to data reviewed by The Hill, failing to meet the previous lowpoint of 11,814 set under Trump’s last full fiscal year in office.

Advocates previously told The Hill that COVID-19 and a series of missteps by President BidenJoe BidenTop US and Israeli security officials to discuss Iran, Palestinians in Washington On The Money — Presented by NRHC — Biden plays debt limit hardball with McConnell Highway bill’s long and winding road MORE led to just a trickle of refugees from a White House that during the campaign pledged to resettle as many as 125,000 people a year through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

The totals do not include recent arrivals of Afghan refugees, who were allowed to enter the country through a different process known as humanitarian parole. Biden also entered office about four months into the fiscal year. 

The figures do show a last-ditch effort under Biden to ramp up processing. The administration had resettled just 7,637 refugees by the end of August — meaning in September alone they processed more than 3,800 cases.

Since entering office, Biden has waffled on just how many refugees to let in.

In February, the president said he would raise the cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year — part of a pledge to reach 125,000 within his first year in office. 

But he slow-walked the presidential determination that officially set the new number for the program, forcing refugee resettlement agencies to cancel flights for a number of people set to be resettled in March.

And when Biden finally signed the determination in April, he backtracked significantly, setting the refugee cap at 15,000, the same all-time low used under Trump, infuriating both advocates and congressional Democrats.

Facing instant backlash, the White House again raised the refugee cap to 62,500, a largely aspirational figure despite being significantly lower than caps set between 70,000 to 80,000 under prior administrations.

Refugee advocates say they’ve been frustrated by stalled progress on a number of their recommendations, including doing virtual interviews and hiring more government employees to work through backlogs. They also want the U.S. to expand its referral system beyond the recommendations of those made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, broadening the program to refugees who might otherwise be overlooked. 

“The administration didn’t do a good enough job investing in…