Biden recommends admitting 125,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023 -State Dept

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is recommending a refugee admissions target of 125,000 for fiscal year 2023, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday.

The proposed target – the same as for the current fiscal year – will “address the growing needs generated by humanitarian crises around the globe, including the more than 100 million displaced persons around the world,” Price said in a statement.

Biden, a Democrat, who took office in January 2021, promised to reverse course after his predecessor Republican President Donald Trump cut the refugee cap to just 15,000, the lowest level in the history of the modern refugee program.

The Biden administration has admitted far fewer than the 125,000 cap for the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. As of Aug. 31, the United States had admitted only 19,919 refugees, according to U.S. government data.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub and Kristina Cooke, Editing by Eric Beech and Jonathan Oatis)