Christian Group Commends Biden Administration’s Proposal To Raise Refugee Cap

Temporary migrants' tents on ground in daylight

A Christian group reportedly commended the proposal of President Joe Biden's Administration on Monday to raise the refugee cap for the next fiscal year to 125,000.

The Christian Post said the Church World Service has commended the Biden Administration for the said announcement made through the United States Department of State. Church World Service, established in 1946 originally to help those in need and to feed the hungry, is an organization that now has 23 branches located in 17 states that specializes on immigrants and refugee resettlements.

"We commend the Biden administration's proposal to substantially increase refugee admissions to 125,000 in the new fiscal year, which begins on October 1st," Church World Service announced via Facebook on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program Senior Vice President Erol Kekic called Biden's increase in refugee cap "a return to moral leadership" while urging the need to "further expand the refugee admissions."

"Today we celebrate a return to moral leadership and our nation's commitment to welcome and generosity. At long last there is hope for refugees in search of safety, including Afghans who are in imminent danger and thousands of families waiting to be reunited," Kekic said in a statement.

"Setting the admissions goal is only step one. The administration should immediately invest in rebuilding a robust refugee resettlement program. This is an urgent, life-saving humanitarian priority that supports global stability and contributes to making our communities stronger," he elaborated.

Kekic also called on Congress to attend to the refugees' need for protection and to strengthen the country's admissions program. He raised that the said refugees currently experience the worst displacement scenarios.

"CWS and the communities we work with across the nation are committed to welcoming as many refugees and their families as possible," Kekic raised.

"We urge Congress to hold the administration accountable to meeting the unprecedented protection needs during the worst displacement crisis in history," he added. "We further ask Congress to fully fund the refugee admissions program in line with the admissions goal and make the necessary improvements to strengthen our nation's capacity to welcome."

Early this month, CWS urged the government to expand its refugee admissions goal of 200,000 for the Fiscal Year 2022. The organization highlighted in a statement dated September 7 that the country's refugee resettlement program was made for moments of crisis such as experienced in Afghanistan were countless citizens became at "risk of violent retribution and imminent danger" due to the withdrawal of the U.S. military forces.

Kekic pointed out that such moments of crisis in the past have shown the the United States often "responded with generosity as we welcomed families into our communities." He stressed that strong admissions goals are derived from "bold leadership" that in turn "helps refugees integrate and thrive."

On the other hand, Church World Service criticized the Biden Administration for its current expulsion operation of Haitians encamped under the Texas bridge near the boarder in Del Rio. The Biden Administration, whose expulsion operations started on Sunday, said it is acting out of "authorities" based on Title 42. CWS called Title 42 "immoral" and urged the government to respect the dignity of the illegal migrants.

"While we welcome this important step to restore humanitarian leadership, CWS is deeply concerned by the increased deportation flights to Haiti under the immoral Title 42 policy and by the treatment of Haitians seeking refuge at the Southern border. We urge the administration to honor our country's moral and legal obligation to welcome all people with dignity," CWS declared.