Joe Biden told a Catholic refugee service in a pre-recorded message that he would return the United States to being “a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader of resettling refugees in our humanitarian response.” He pledged to massively increase the U.S. refugee total to 125,000 during his first year.
Biden has made the promise before, but not as president-elect. That number is slightly higher than the Obama administration’s twilight approval of 110,000 refugees from war and poverty fleeing their native countries seeking a better life in the West.
With millions clamoring to get in, how do you pick and choose which refugees should receive shelter? Apparently, if you show up at the U.S. border and claim refugee status, you’re in. You can wait in the United States for your hearing while the State Department decides if you’re a real refugee or not. And if you say you’re fleeing violence in the streets and your life is in danger if you return, that’s a double-plus-good bonus.
President-elect Joe Biden reaffirmed his campaign promise to raise the US annual refugee admissions target to 125,000 on Thursday, Huff Post reported. This target is higher than the target of 110,000 admissions target approved by former president Barack Obama in 2016.
In a video recorded for the 40th anniversary of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Biden said that “The US has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and oppressed, a leader in resettling refugees, in our humanitarian response.” He then promised to “reclaim that proud legacy for our country.”
Everybody wants us to be a “beacon of hope” for the world. Americans are not without compassion and charity as has been proved time and time again. We are far and away the most generous people on earth.
But we’re also among the most sensible. And radically increasing the number of desperate, poor, illiterate people allowed to come into the United States — during a pandemic no less — is madness.
We can’t police the world with our military nor can we save the world by throwing open our doors to allow unlimited numbers of refugees. Joe Biden is going to face another “migrant surge” in the next four years. Will he just throw open the border and lay out a welcome mat? After all, many of those Central American refugees are escaping violence, extreme poverty, and oppression. How can you choose who comes in and who is barred?
Where does this mass of humanity go? How do they eat? Where will they live? Biden can posture all he wants about being a great humanitarian. But it’s the American people who are going to pay for his heroic self-image and they might have different ideas.
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