Biden lifts Trump refugee cap after delay backlash

US President Joe Biden is formally lifting the nation’s refugee cap to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in lifting former president Donald Trump’s limit of 15,000.

Mr Biden last month moved to expand the eligibility criteria for resettlements, removing one roadblock to refugees entering the US put in place by Mr Trump, but he had initially stopped short of lifting the annual cap, with aides saying they did not believe it was necessary.

But Mr Biden faced sharp pushback for not at least taking the symbolic step of authorising more refugees to enter the US this year and swiftly reversed course.

Mr Biden, in a statement, said the new limit "erases the historically low number set by the previous administration" and added that Mr Trump's cap "did not reflect America's values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees".

“It is important to take this action today to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden said it was a “sad truth” that the US would not meet the 62,500 cap by the end of the fiscal year in September, given the pandemic and limitations on the country’s resettlement capabilities – some of which his administration has attributed to the Trump administration’s policies to restrict immigration.

That said, they maintain Mr Biden remains committed to setting the cap at 125,000 for the 2022 fiscal year that starts in October while they have been working to improve US capabilities to process refugees to be able to accept as many of them as possible under the new cap.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress on February 12 of a plan to raise the ceiling on admissions to 62,500, but no presidential determination followed. In an emergency declaration on April 16, Mr Biden stated the admission of up to 15,000 refugees set by Mr Trump this year “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest”.

“Failing to issue a new determination undermines your declared purpose to reverse your predecessor’s refugee policies,” Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in a letter to Mr Biden at the time.

The new allocation instituted by Mr Biden added more slots for refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Central America and ended Trump’s restrictions on resettlements from Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'

Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.

Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.

"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.

"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.

"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."

'Morbius'

Director: Daniel Espinosa

Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona

Rating: 2/5

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:

Ajax 2-3 Tottenham

Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate

Final: June 1, Madrid

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.