A Look at the FY 2021 Report to Congress on Refugees
Good information, but likely to change under a Biden administration
By Nayla Rush on December 9, 2020
Nayla Rush is a senior researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.
The president's "Report to Congress on Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021", released this October, provides us with a snapshot of the Trump administration's refugee and asylum policy in FY 2020 and its projections for FY 2021 (those will likely be short-lived with the new Biden administration).1 I highlight a number of important points below, followed by more detail and longer excerpts on key matters. All quotes are from the report's text; emphases are mine.
In FY 2020, the United States admitted over 11,000 refugees for resettlement (under a ceiling of 18,000) and granted asylum to approximately 31,000 individuals.
Recent years have seen an increase in asylum claims by migrants encountered along or near the U.S. southern border with Mexico. New cases add to the lengthy backlog of pending claims and undermine the integrity of the asylum system. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United States led the world in the number of new asylum applications received in calendar years 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions, the U.S. refugee resettlement program was suspended from March 19 to July 29, 2020, except for those who were considered as "emergency cases". (As I wrote in October, the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down, but did not halt, refugee arrivals in FY 2020. Also, none of those resettled during the suspension or afterward were tested for the Covid-19 virus prior to being admitted here.2)
https://cis.org/Report/Look-FY-2021-Report-Congress-Refugees
