New Article in Fortune
I wrote this op-ed for Fortune, Biden Thinks America Can’t Welcome More Refugees? He Should Call Justin Trudeau
Published May 11, 2021
Here is my original unedited piece.
Title: Biden Can’t Organize Government to Welcome More Refugees? Give Trudeau a Call, Mr President
On April 16 President Biden stepped back from his intentions to raise the refugee ceiling this year, instead preserving the record low of the Trump era for his first year in office—more of a crawl space than a refugee ceiling. Rather than the 62,500 newcomers signalled in February, President announced a ceiling of 15,000 for remainder of 2021, throwing the plans and lives of thousands of people anticipating a home in the US in disarray.
The announcement activated immediate and strong push back from both Democratic allies and also refugee resettlement groups. Late the same day, Biden walked back from the full force of his decision, leaving resettlement agencies at a loss to know what 2021 will hold and how far statements by the Administration can be trusted. A new and final refugee ceiling will be announced by May 15th, we are told. In a dizzying flip-flop of intentions, this new figure was initially to be less than 62,500, and yet now it seems that 62,500 is again a possibility.
The April 16th reduction is especially surprising given the President’s strong rationale for his original intentions to resettle 62,500 refugees. In a proposal to Congress the Administration detailed emergencies and human suffering in four continents, stating: “To respond to all of these unforeseen and urgent situations, a revised target of 62,500 is proposed and is justified by grave humanitarian concerns and is in the national interest.”
To put the revised ceiling of 15,000 in perspective President Obama set refugee ceilings between 70,000 and 110,000. It was set as high as 142,000 by President George H.W. Bush and 140,000 by President Ronald Reagan. President Trump, however, slashed the resettlement program to a record low of 15,000 in October 2020. As a result, the former President also shrank the global refugee resettlement program, to which the US has historically been a major contributor.
President Biden has described his predecessor’s exclusivist policies as racially motivated. So, why preserve them? Why the delay, given President Biden’s previous convictions around moving swiftly: “Delays in administering [the United States Refugee Admissions Program] and other humanitarian programs are counter to our national interests, can raise grave humanitarian concerns, and should be minimized,” he stated in February.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained why 62,500 is too many: “Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely.” While it is absolutely true that the Trump Administration decimated the resettlement program, it is curious that this thought only occurred to the Biden administration in mid-April.
Yet if the gateway to promise-keeping is logistical, then President Biden should give a call to Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, where I live. Upon entering office in 2015, Trudeau was true to his pre-election promise to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war. Trudeau assumed office on November 4th, 2015, and 25,555 Syrian refugees were resettled in Canada by the end of February 2016. One of the Syrian passengers arriving on the first flight commented, “We suffered a lot. . . Now, we feel as if we got out of hell and we came to paradise.” Newcomers to Canada were supported as they set up new lives across the country. Kinbrace, an organisation birthed by my church in Vancouver, played a welcoming role locally. The Canadian Minister of Immigration Marco Mendicino has promised to welcome around 65,000 refugees and vulnerable immigrants in each of 2021, 2022, and 2023. If the U.S., with its far larger population, were to resettle as many refugees per capita as Canada, it would be welcoming more than 565,000 refugees per year.
It’s not like Americans can’t get things done. We Canadians have marvelled at the Biden administration’s capacity to roll out COVID vaccine across the nation, in a heartbeat. Canadian leadership has taken COVID seriously from the beginning, and yet the US has sprung out of bed late, shot out the front door and gotten itself vaccinated (more or less) while Canada is still sitting at the breakfast table, politely waiting to be asked. Looking in from the outside, it seems that for American politics, where there is a will there’s a way.
Psaki also suggested that it was overly complex to strengthen immigration both at the U.S. Mexican border and also through the refugee resettlement program, at the same time. However, this obfuscates the issue. Unlike unaccompanied children or asylum seekers processed at the U.S.-Mexico border, refugee resettlement in the U.S. is the primary responsibility of the U.S. State Department, often working in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The refugee pathway involves meticulous vetting that takes place before travel to the United States. Upon arrival, refugees are supported by a nine Resettlement Agencies, mostly religious. These agencies are presently poised on the edge of their seat, ready to welcome newcomers. These are some of the voices who responded with alarm to Biden’s reversal: We’re ready, let’s go!
Some have speculated that the reason behind Biden’s reversal is political pressure around immigration more broadly. A poll suggested that raising the refugee ceiling is less popular than President Biden’s other policies. Political motives seem to makes sense of the sudden shift to a 15,000 ceiling. And yet, if the President is concerned for votes, he should consider the thousands who voted for him not out of partisan preference, but on basis of a list of tangible policies in a “battle for the soul of America.” Reversing the former President’s xenophobic refugee policies was high on the list of the President Biden’s priorities, back then.
In my co-written book, Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics, we argue that political motives are less important than the need to simply do what is right. 79.5 million people are people displaced globally. 26 million of these are refugees (2019 figures). This is an unprecedented high, and yet a mere 22,770 refugees were resettled globally under the UNHCR resettlement program in 2020—a record low. For Biden to maintain the former President’s policies for political reasons is unconscionable in this context of human need. Only 1,052 refugees were resettled during the first quarter of 2021.
Looking in from the outside, it seems clear that repairing the American soul will require more than ousting a former President, it will require re-narrating national identity. If the former President narrated American identity in directions of white, male nationalism, then President Biden should resist forming policy on the basis of polls that are skewed by such toxic rhetoric. Instead, the new Administration should embrace this opportunity to re-narrate American identity in directions of generosity and responsibility, grounded on the dignity of every person and on the kinship of humanity.
Mark Glanville is the co-author of Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics and an Associate Professor at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.