Pascrell Implores Biden to Ratchet Up Refugee Admissions of Ukrainians into America

$1.4 Billion enacted by Congress this week must help resettle Ukrainians and connect families fleeing Russian invaders in America

PATERSON, NJ – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today wrote to President Biden calling on him to significantly raise the number of refugees our nation resettles and accelerate refugee resettlement for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s illegal invasion. Pascrell urges the President to create an expedited process for those with familial ties to legal permanent residents in the United States. Pascrell represents one of the largest Ukrainian American communities in the United States.

“Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine has created an unspeakable humanitarian tragedy and contributed to the growing global refugee crisis… To meet this monumental challenge, I urge your administration to rapidly and significantly increase the number of refugees being resettled in our country. I also implore your administration to quickly create an expedited refugee resettlement process for those fleeing Putin’s invasion, especially for those Ukrainians with familial ties to legal permanent residents in the United States,” Rep. Pascrell writes to President Biden.

In just one year, the Biden administration has reversed the unconscionable and xenophobic policies of the Trump regime that ground refugee admissions to almost nothing. However, as of February 28, 2022, the United States has only resettled 6,494 individuals this fiscal year.

This week, both Houses of Congress approved $1.4 billion requested by the Biden administration for the U.S. State Department’s Migration and Refugee Assistance. Pascrell urges President Biden to use money this money directly to assist and resettle Ukrainians driven from their homes in America.

Even before Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the world was already facing the largest refugee crisis in history. An unprecedented 82.4 million people across the globe have been forcibly displaced from their homes because of violence, persecution, famine, and war. Approximately 26.4 million of those individuals are refugees, and more than half are children. Reports estimate that in just two weeks, more than two million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled their country.

For years, Rep. Pascrell has been one of the House of Representative’s foremost leaders in calling for American leadership in the refugee crisis and in his criticism of the nation’s slow acceptance of refugees. In May 2018, Pascrell helmed a letter condemning the pitiful refugee resettlement rate set by Trump for FY 2019. In October 2017, Pascrell led 120 of his colleagues in a letter to Trump assailing his decision to set a painfully low cap for refugee admissions for 2018, and rejecting reported changes to the resettlement process to require refugees to meet an assimilation standard.

In September 2017, Pascrell condemned the Trump administration’s slashing of America’s acceptance rate of refugees, saying the decision “shows no compassion, no sense of history, and no moral courage.” Leading 109 House members in May 2017, Pascrell wrote to Trump demanding that he rescind his Executive Order suspending the Refugee Admissions Program and increase support for humanitarian aid programs that assist Syrians in crisis. Pascrell attacked Donald Trump’s refugee restrictions announced at the start of his term as “religious discrimination” that turned “a blind eye to the families seeking escape from war and devastation in search of a better life.”

The text of Rep. Pascrell’s letter to President Biden is below.

March 11, 2022

Dear President Biden,

Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine has created an unspeakable humanitarian tragedy and contributed to the growing global refugee crisis. Vladimir Putin’s strikes against civilian targets has led to Europe’s fastest growing refugee disaster since the Second World War. To meet this monumental challenge, I urge your administration to rapidly and significantly increase the number of refugees being resettled in our country. I also implore your administration to quickly create an expedited refugee resettlement process for those fleeing Putin’s invasion, especially for those Ukrainians with familial ties to legal permanent residents in the United States.

Your administration should be commended for its work reversing the unconscionable, xenophobic refugee policies of your predecessor by increasing the Presidential Determination (PD) for refugee admissions to 125,000. However, as of February 28, 2022, the United States has only resettled 6,494 individuals this fiscal year. A nation of immigrants such as ours, founded on the promise to welcome those seeking a better life, should not fall short of meeting the current admission ceiling. The supplemental appropriations law includes $1.4 billion you requested for the Department of State’s Migration and Refugee Assistance’ account to assist refugees from Ukraine. These funds can help raise the number of resettled refugees and assist Ukrainians forcibly displaced from their homes due of Putin’s war.

Before Russia’s illegal invasion, the world was already facing the largest refugee crisis in history. An unprecedented 82.4 million people across the globe have been forcibly displaced from their homes because of violence, persecution, famine, and war. Approximately 26.4 million of those individuals are refugees, and more than half are children. Reports estimate that in just two weeks, more than two million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled their country. The U.S. has a moral and national security imperative to drastically increase the PD for refugee admissions to welcome more refugees.

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) has safely and successfully resettled more than three million refugees from around the world to American communities since 1975. As both Democratic and Republican administrations have confirmed, the United States screens refugees more stringently than any other traveler allowed to enter our borders. Refugee applicants must undergo a robust and thorough screening process that takes roughly two years and involves our nation’s top security and counter-terror experts. The exhaustive vetting process includes checking fingerprints and other biometric data against terrorist and criminal databases and multiple interviews through multiple Federal agencies.

The worst refugee crisis in the world requires bold, decisive American leadership. The current PD for refugee admissions and resettlement rate must be increased to meet the growing number of refugees. Doubling the PD for refugee admissions and achieving our goals would help signal to the world our serious commitment to addressing the plight of refugees.

We stand astride one of the darkest moments in modern times. Yet I have been inspired by the outpouring support, both emotional and financial, that the American people have shown to the people of Ukraine in their time of need. Hosting large numbers of displaced persons has strained the resources of our allies and partners. Allowing an expedited process for refugees, especially those from Ukraine with families in the United States, to be resettled in our nation can promote security and stability both at home and abroad.

A plaque at the Statute of Liberty reminds us that America welcomes in “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” We must live up to those words and open wide the golden door of America to Ukrainian refugees. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Bill Pascrell, Jr.

Member of Congress