US Refugee Resettlement in FY2023
Don’t Let Opportunity Go Unused
On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, President Biden announced the fiscal year 2023 Presidential Determination for Refugee Admissions. This annual process allows the President, in consultation with Congress, to set targets for refugee resettlement from specific regions around the world while also allowing for a pool of unallocated slots to respond to emerging regional needs. For FY 2023, President Biden included specific locations in which a person may qualify for refugee status and admission to the United States despite never crossing an international border from their country of nationality or habitual residence, which is a key element of the definition of a “refugee” under United States law, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Removing this element allows US programs, like the Central American Minors program, to consider resettlement for those at-risk and helps manage access to those with family present in the United States.
The recent Presidential Determination set 125,000 as the cap for refugee admissions, maintaining the same admissions level for the previous fiscal year. This disappointed many in the resettlement community who lobbied for increasing admission slots for FY 2023 to 200,000. The need for more resettlement slots stems from an increase in the number of refugees globally in the last year, as well as the low resettlement numbers the United States achieved during the previous administration — a reduction in capacity that still impacts resettlement organizations today.
The presidential determination is considered an aspirational target. In fact, resettlement agencies work to prepare for arrivals based on the annual determination, but also keep in mind the operational capacity of the refugee resettlement program. This operational capacity takes into account the ability of government agencies to perform tasks related to resettlement, like the Department of Homeland Security’s capabilities to accomplish circuit rides to refugee locations and conduct screenings for access to the resettlement program. It also reflects the number of refugees who are currently screened for resettlement and considered to be in the US Refugee Admissions Program pipeline for resettlement to the US. The operational capacity for FY 2022 is 65,000, but with only a few days left in the current fiscal year, the United States is expected to resettle around 20,000 refugees for the entire year. This misses the ceiling by over 100,000 slots — slots that are crucial to resolving the need for protection as the population of refugees grows around the world.
The graph below highlights the problem of low admissions and the overall lack of capacity we’ve seen in the resettlement program since fiscal year 2017, the same fiscal year former President Trump took control of the program. While not reaching the ceiling has been witnessed during previous years, the consistent resettlement below 50% capacity has not been an issue since the post 9/11 years where screening and security concerns increased. While the graph shows resettlement in fiscal year 2019 reached the ceiling, it is notable that only 30,000 refugees were admitted, which is less than half the annual average of 66,594 refugees resettled in the decade before Trump took office.
Where do we go from here in order to create a robust resettlement program that utilizes every available resettlement slot, represents American ideals, meets humanitarian needs around the world, and helps solve the dilemma of the increasing global population for refugees? First, the government should continue to build internal capacity by hiring additional refugee officers to perform overseas screenings and support operations at the appropriate budgetary levels. Without increased government capacity, we cannot return to the leadership position the US once held in refugee resettlement.
Second, the resettlement network must be rebuilt. Due to a reduction in arrivals under Trump, many sites were forced to close their refugee resettlement programs. The State Department award to Voluntary Agencies has not been announced as of publication, but new sites are part of an expected strategy to support an increase in arrivals, with the possibility of a new Voluntary Agency joining the ranks of the current nine organizations participating in the Reception & Placement program. These agencies demonstrated the ability to handle more cases through the Afghan Placement & Assistance program, which resettled over 76,000 Afghan parolees across the United States. If we support programs at the same level witnessed over the last year, 125,000 refugees welcomed into American communities is an achievable goal in fiscal year 2023.
Finally, in order to make refugee resettlement a more stable program for the future, Congressional bills such as Guaranteed Refugee Admission Ceiling Enhancement Act, can help stabilize the resettlement program for the long term. The refugee resettlement program used to be a bipartisan effort within the United States, however that viewpoint eroded in past years as xenophobia grew.
America has the ability to welcome refugees in greater numbers and resettle 125,000 refugees within the 2023 fiscal year. However, political will is a key element to reaching such a goal. Without it, we are faced with a continued mismatch between the potential of what we can do and the reality that America is no longer a welcoming country that understands and upholds the moral calling of the nation.
