SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Following intense pushback from migrant rights campaigners and progressive politicians after President Joe Biden said last month that he would continue his predecessor's historically low refugee cap, the White House on Monday officially announced it would more than quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year--while also acknowledging that the actual number of people admitted would fall short of the ceiling.
"Welcoming refugees is not only a moral imperative, but also promotes U.S. national security, bolsters our economy, enriches our communities, and demonstrates that we're willing to work together with other governments."
--Eric P. Schwartz,
Refugees International
"I am revising the United States' annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year," Biden said in an executive memorandum. "This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America's values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees."
In a separate statement, Biden said that "we are going to rebuild what has been broken and push hard to complete the rigorous screening process for those refugees already in the pipeline for admission."
However, the president warned that while his administration is "working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years" under former President Donald Trump, "the sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year."
\u201cThe U.S. Refugee Admissions Program embodies our commitment to protect the most vulnerable. It\u2019s a statement about who we are, and who we want to be. That\u2019s why today, I revised our annual cap from 15,000 \u2014 a historic low set by the previous administration \u2014 to 62,500.\u201d— President Biden (@President Biden) 1620084309
Biden reiterated his "commitment to the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions" in the first fiscal year of his presidency. Although that figure is more than 10 times the number of refugess actually admitted into the U.S. last year and represents the highest ceiling since 1993, it is still much lower than the inaugural cap of 231,700 set for 1980, the final full year of Jimmy Carter's presidency and the height of the migrant crisis that followed the end of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian genocide.
The new ceiling will open the door to more refugees from Africa, Central America, and the Middle East, a stark departure from Trump's frequent disparagement of Global South nations, some of which he once called "shithole countries."
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) lamented that the Biden administration had so far only resettled 2,050 refugees in the United States this year. However, the New York-based nonprofit welcomed Monday's White House announcement, calling it "a step towards rebuilding America's welcome."
\u201cGOOD NEWS: President Biden has raised refugee admissions to 62,500 for FY21. \ud83d\udc4f\n\nWe stand for a US, and world, that makes #RefugeesWelcome\u2014always. This announcement doesn't not just fulfil a promise; it's a step towards rebuilding America's welcome. More: https://t.co/iAgIT8gw8m\u201d— IRC - International Rescue Committee (@IRC - International Rescue Committee) 1620073531
Other advocacy groups and progressive politicians also praised the administration's move. Eric P. Schwartz, president of Refugees International, called Biden's move "a profoundly important step" that will "pave the way for the administration to make good on its commitment to rebuild the U.S. refugee admissions program and restore U.S. leadership on this critical issue."
"This is a proud and historic moment," added Schwartz. "At a time of great humanitarian need, welcoming refugees is not only a moral imperative, but also promotes U.S. national security, bolsters our economy, enriches our communities, and demonstrates that we're willing to work together with other governments on some of the world's most complex problems."
\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s decision to slash the number of refugees allowed into the country wasn\u2019t just bad policy \u2013 it was a moral failure. I\u2019m very glad the Biden administration is raising the admissions cap to help people fleeing violence and persecution. https://t.co/aoH4rJnoTv\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1620083722
\u201cGlad to see President Biden lift the refugee cap for this year.\u00a0 \n\nAmerica can and should offer a new start for people fleeing conflict and persecution.\u201d— Rep. Barbara Lee (@Rep. Barbara Lee) 1620083177
Andrew Albertson, executive director at Foreign Policy America, said in a statement that "the most powerful thing we can do as a country is to lead by example."
Obama-era Housing and Urban Development secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro tweeted that "the U.S. has always been a place of refuge and opportunity for those escaping violence and persecution. Trump tried to end that legacy. I'm glad the Biden-Harris administration is working to reverse the damage he's done."
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Following intense pushback from migrant rights campaigners and progressive politicians after President Joe Biden said last month that he would continue his predecessor's historically low refugee cap, the White House on Monday officially announced it would more than quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year--while also acknowledging that the actual number of people admitted would fall short of the ceiling.
"Welcoming refugees is not only a moral imperative, but also promotes U.S. national security, bolsters our economy, enriches our communities, and demonstrates that we're willing to work together with other governments."
--Eric P. Schwartz,
Refugees International
"I am revising the United States' annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year," Biden said in an executive memorandum. "This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America's values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees."
In a separate statement, Biden said that "we are going to rebuild what has been broken and push hard to complete the rigorous screening process for those refugees already in the pipeline for admission."
However, the president warned that while his administration is "working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years" under former President Donald Trump, "the sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year."
\u201cThe U.S. Refugee Admissions Program embodies our commitment to protect the most vulnerable. It\u2019s a statement about who we are, and who we want to be. That\u2019s why today, I revised our annual cap from 15,000 \u2014 a historic low set by the previous administration \u2014 to 62,500.\u201d— President Biden (@President Biden) 1620084309
Biden reiterated his "commitment to the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions" in the first fiscal year of his presidency. Although that figure is more than 10 times the number of refugess actually admitted into the U.S. last year and represents the highest ceiling since 1993, it is still much lower than the inaugural cap of 231,700 set for 1980, the final full year of Jimmy Carter's presidency and the height of the migrant crisis that followed the end of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian genocide.
The new ceiling will open the door to more refugees from Africa, Central America, and the Middle East, a stark departure from Trump's frequent disparagement of Global South nations, some of which he once called "shithole countries."
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) lamented that the Biden administration had so far only resettled 2,050 refugees in the United States this year. However, the New York-based nonprofit welcomed Monday's White House announcement, calling it "a step towards rebuilding America's welcome."
\u201cGOOD NEWS: President Biden has raised refugee admissions to 62,500 for FY21. \ud83d\udc4f\n\nWe stand for a US, and world, that makes #RefugeesWelcome\u2014always. This announcement doesn't not just fulfil a promise; it's a step towards rebuilding America's welcome. More: https://t.co/iAgIT8gw8m\u201d— IRC - International Rescue Committee (@IRC - International Rescue Committee) 1620073531
Other advocacy groups and progressive politicians also praised the administration's move. Eric P. Schwartz, president of Refugees International, called Biden's move "a profoundly important step" that will "pave the way for the administration to make good on its commitment to rebuild the U.S. refugee admissions program and restore U.S. leadership on this critical issue."
"This is a proud and historic moment," added Schwartz. "At a time of great humanitarian need, welcoming refugees is not only a moral imperative, but also promotes U.S. national security, bolsters our economy, enriches our communities, and demonstrates that we're willing to work together with other governments on some of the world's most complex problems."
\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s decision to slash the number of refugees allowed into the country wasn\u2019t just bad policy \u2013 it was a moral failure. I\u2019m very glad the Biden administration is raising the admissions cap to help people fleeing violence and persecution. https://t.co/aoH4rJnoTv\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1620083722
\u201cGlad to see President Biden lift the refugee cap for this year.\u00a0 \n\nAmerica can and should offer a new start for people fleeing conflict and persecution.\u201d— Rep. Barbara Lee (@Rep. Barbara Lee) 1620083177
Andrew Albertson, executive director at Foreign Policy America, said in a statement that "the most powerful thing we can do as a country is to lead by example."
Obama-era Housing and Urban Development secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro tweeted that "the U.S. has always been a place of refuge and opportunity for those escaping violence and persecution. Trump tried to end that legacy. I'm glad the Biden-Harris administration is working to reverse the damage he's done."
Following intense pushback from migrant rights campaigners and progressive politicians after President Joe Biden said last month that he would continue his predecessor's historically low refugee cap, the White House on Monday officially announced it would more than quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year--while also acknowledging that the actual number of people admitted would fall short of the ceiling.
"Welcoming refugees is not only a moral imperative, but also promotes U.S. national security, bolsters our economy, enriches our communities, and demonstrates that we're willing to work together with other governments."
--Eric P. Schwartz,
Refugees International
"I am revising the United States' annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year," Biden said in an executive memorandum. "This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America's values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees."
In a separate statement, Biden said that "we are going to rebuild what has been broken and push hard to complete the rigorous screening process for those refugees already in the pipeline for admission."
However, the president warned that while his administration is "working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years" under former President Donald Trump, "the sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year."
\u201cThe U.S. Refugee Admissions Program embodies our commitment to protect the most vulnerable. It\u2019s a statement about who we are, and who we want to be. That\u2019s why today, I revised our annual cap from 15,000 \u2014 a historic low set by the previous administration \u2014 to 62,500.\u201d— President Biden (@President Biden) 1620084309
Biden reiterated his "commitment to the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions" in the first fiscal year of his presidency. Although that figure is more than 10 times the number of refugess actually admitted into the U.S. last year and represents the highest ceiling since 1993, it is still much lower than the inaugural cap of 231,700 set for 1980, the final full year of Jimmy Carter's presidency and the height of the migrant crisis that followed the end of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian genocide.
The new ceiling will open the door to more refugees from Africa, Central America, and the Middle East, a stark departure from Trump's frequent disparagement of Global South nations, some of which he once called "shithole countries."
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) lamented that the Biden administration had so far only resettled 2,050 refugees in the United States this year. However, the New York-based nonprofit welcomed Monday's White House announcement, calling it "a step towards rebuilding America's welcome."
\u201cGOOD NEWS: President Biden has raised refugee admissions to 62,500 for FY21. \ud83d\udc4f\n\nWe stand for a US, and world, that makes #RefugeesWelcome\u2014always. This announcement doesn't not just fulfil a promise; it's a step towards rebuilding America's welcome. More: https://t.co/iAgIT8gw8m\u201d— IRC - International Rescue Committee (@IRC - International Rescue Committee) 1620073531
Other advocacy groups and progressive politicians also praised the administration's move. Eric P. Schwartz, president of Refugees International, called Biden's move "a profoundly important step" that will "pave the way for the administration to make good on its commitment to rebuild the U.S. refugee admissions program and restore U.S. leadership on this critical issue."
"This is a proud and historic moment," added Schwartz. "At a time of great humanitarian need, welcoming refugees is not only a moral imperative, but also promotes U.S. national security, bolsters our economy, enriches our communities, and demonstrates that we're willing to work together with other governments on some of the world's most complex problems."
\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s decision to slash the number of refugees allowed into the country wasn\u2019t just bad policy \u2013 it was a moral failure. I\u2019m very glad the Biden administration is raising the admissions cap to help people fleeing violence and persecution. https://t.co/aoH4rJnoTv\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1620083722
\u201cGlad to see President Biden lift the refugee cap for this year.\u00a0 \n\nAmerica can and should offer a new start for people fleeing conflict and persecution.\u201d— Rep. Barbara Lee (@Rep. Barbara Lee) 1620083177
Andrew Albertson, executive director at Foreign Policy America, said in a statement that "the most powerful thing we can do as a country is to lead by example."
Obama-era Housing and Urban Development secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro tweeted that "the U.S. has always been a place of refuge and opportunity for those escaping violence and persecution. Trump tried to end that legacy. I'm glad the Biden-Harris administration is working to reverse the damage he's done."
Don Dempsey would join Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services nominee Mehmet Oz and other supporters of privatized Medicare Advantage plans in the new administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly set to nominate a lobbyist for the for-profit health insurance industry for a top White House budget job, a move likely to heighten concerns about the new administration's expected push to bolster Medicare Advantage plans that deny necessary care and dramatically overbill the federal government.
The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Trump is "poised to appoint" Don Dempsey as associate director of the Office of Management and Budget's health programs. The appointment would give Dempsey "sweeping power over the $1.8 trillion U.S. healthcare budget and responsibilities of the 13 divisions and agencies," the newspaper noted.
Dempsey is currently the vice president of policy and research at the Better Medicare Alliance, a lobbying organization that describes itself as "the nation's leading research and advocacy organization supporting Medicare Advantage." FT observed that the group is "funded by insurance companies including UnitedHealth Group and Humana"—the two largest Medicare Advantage insurers in the United States.
Trump's reported choice represents another potential boon for Medicare Advantage, a program run by private insurers and funded by the federal government. As STAT reported last month, "Medicare Advantage insurers thrived under the first Trump administration, and it's expected to happen again now that Trump is returning to the White House and Republicans are taking control of Congress."
The president has nominated Mehmet Oz, who has previously expressed support for a plan dubbed "Medicare Advantage for All," to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a move that one watchdog warned would kick Medicare privatization efforts "into overdrive."
Since taking office earlier this week, Trump has taken a number of steps that have alarmed healthcare advocates, including rescinding Biden-era executive orders aimed at lowering prescription drug prices and strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
"On one hand, what we see coming from the executive orders by Trump is important because it shows us the direction they are going with policy changes," Sarah Lueck, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told KFF Health News. "But the other track is that on the Hill, there are active conversations about what goes into budget legislation. They are considering some pretty huge cuts to Medicaid."
"Look at what members of Congress are invested in private prison companies," said Ocasio-Cortez.
"It's corruption in plain sight."
That's how U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) described congressional colleagues who support Republican-authored legislation that immigrant rights advocates warn is a right-wing power grab under the guise of public safety.
The Laken Riley Act—named after a young woman murdered last year by a Venezuelan man who, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), entered the United States illegally—was passed by a vote of 263-156 in the House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon. Forty-six Democrats and every Republican present voted "yes." That was a near-identical tally to the 264-159 vote on a previous version of the bill passed earlier this month.
Senate lawmakers passed the bill on Monday, with 12 Democrats joining 52 Republicans in voting for the measure, which, among other things, expands mandatory federal detention of undocumented immigrants who are accused of even relatively minor crimes. With the House's Wednesday vote, the Laken Riley Act is set to be the first bill signed into law since President Donald Trump returned to office.
Speaking on the House floor on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez said:
I want the American people to know, with eyes wide open, what is inside this bill because we stand here just two days after President Trump gave unconditional pardons to violent criminals who attacked our nation's Capitol on January 6th, and these are the people who want you to believe, who want us to believe that they're trying to quote unquote "keep criminals off the streets," when they are opening the floodgates...
In this bill, if a person is so much as accused of a crime, if someone wants to point a finger and accuse someone of shoplifting, they will be rounded up and put into a private detention camp and... sent out for deportation without a day in court, without a moment to assert their right, and without a moment to assert the privilege of innocent until proven guilty without being found guilty of a crime they will be rounded up, that is what is inside this bill, a fundamental suspension of a core American value, and that is why I rise to oppose it.
"You may wonder why so many of our friends across the aisle who care so deeply about the rule of law happen to be so desperate to pass this bill," Ocasio-Cortez continued. "Look no further than the price tag of this bill, $83 billion. [Lawmakers] know that it can't be paid for. They know that the capacity is not there, and you know what will be there? Private prison companies are going to get flooded with money."
"Look at what members of Congress are invested in private prison companies who receive this kind of money and look at the votes on this bill," she added. "It is atrocious that people are lining their pockets with private prison profits in the name of a horrific tragedy and the victim of a crime. It is shameful. It is absolutely shameful."
The congresswoman's comments came two days after Trump reversed a 2021 executive order issued by former Democratic President Joe Biden meant to phase out U.S. Department of Justice contracts with private prisons. Despite Biden's order, more than 90% of people held by ICE in July 2023 were locked up in for-profit facilities, which are rife with serious human rights abuses, according to the ACLU and other advocacy groups.
Anthony Enriquez, vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Hill opinion contributor, recently called the Laken Riley Act "a sweetheart deal for the private prison industry."
"Private prison executives look poised to pull off a multibillion-dollar cash grab at taxpayer expense via a cynical ploy to capitalize on the tragic death of a Georgia nursing student," he warned.
Shares in private prison stocks, which had been languishing for much of 2024, have soared since Trump's victory in November, with GeoGroup surging more than 127% since Election Day and competitor CoreCivic up over 63%.
Responding to reporting that ICE is preparing to more than double its detention capacity by opening 18 new facilities, American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick said on social media Wednesday: "That would likely mean tens of billions in taxpayer funds sent to private prison companies. They are salivating."
"This bill is the very definition of pernicious: It attacks women's healthcare using false narratives and outright fearmongering," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked from a final vote a Republican bill that, according to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, made clear that under newly sworn-in President Donald Trump, "it will be a golden age, but for the extreme, anti-choice movement."
"This bill is the very definition of pernicious: It attacks women's healthcare using false narratives and outright fearmongering, and adds more legal risk for doctors on something that is already illegal," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the chamber's floor before senators voted 52-47 along party lines, short of the 60 votes needed to advance the so-called Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 6) to a final vote.
Introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), S. 6 would "prohibit a healthcare practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion," under the threat of fines and up to five years in prison. Healthcare professionals and rights advocates have condemned the legislation as deeply misleading.
"So much of the hard-right's anti-choice agenda is pushed, frankly, by people who have little to no understanding of what women go through when they are pregnant," said Schumer. "The scenario targeted by this bill is one of the most heartbreaking moments that a woman could ever encounter, the agonizing choice of having to end care when serious and rare complications arise in pregnancy. And at that moment of agony, this bill cruelly substitutes the judgment of qualified medical professionals, and the wishes of millions of families, and allows ultraright ideology to dictate what they do."
After honoring Cecile Richards, a longtime Planned Parenthood leader who died earlier this week, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Wednesday that "of all the bills that we could be voting on—lowering the cost of healthcare, expanding childcare, helping our families—it's an absolute disgrace that Republicans are spending their first week in power attacking women, criminalizing doctors, and lying about abortion."
"This isn't how abortion works; Republicans know it," stressed Murray, a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "All babies are already protected under the law, regardless of the circumstance of their birth. Doctors already have a legal obligation to provide appropriate medical care. And we already know this sham bill from Republicans is not going anywhere."
"Last time we voted down this bill, I actually spoke about something Republicans refuse to acknowledge in this debate: the struggles, the struggles of a pregnant woman, who has received tragic news that her baby had a fatal medical condition and would not be able to survive, and who were able to make the choice that was right for their family," she noted. "But now, here we are, already hearing stories of women who were denied that choice by extreme Republican abortion bans."
Wednesday's vote fell on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affirmed abortion rights nationwide—until it was reversed by right-wing justices in 2022, with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which provoked a fresh wave of state-level restrictions on reproductive freedom.
"It's no accident that congressional Republicans used the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a watershed case for liberty, equality, and bodily autonomy, to vote on a bill that perpetuates myths about abortion care, shames the people who seek that care, and vilifies those who provide it," said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, in a statement.
"A majority of the electorate continues to support abortion rights and access," she noted. "Americans have seen the results of the Supreme Court's unjust and callous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade—from abortion bans forcing people to travel across state lines to access the care they need to pregnant people being denied care and even dying to an exodus of doctors that is exacerbating the existing maternal health crisis we face—and they reject restrictive abortion policies. That's why anti-abortion advocates must rely on disinformation like this bill to further their extreme agenda."
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, also highlighted the country's sweeping healthcare crisis in her Wednesday statement about Republicans' failed bill.
"This bill is deliberately misleading and offensive to pregnant people, and the doctors and nurses who provide their care," she said. "At a time when we are facing a national abortion access crisis, lawmakers should be focused on how to bring more care to the communities they serve, not spending their time spreading misinformation, criminalizing doctors, and inserting themselves further into medical decisions made by healthcare professionals."
"This bill is not based in any reality of how medical care works," she added, "and it's wrong, irresponsible, and dangerous to suggest otherwise."
As the GOP works to restrict reproductive rights, advocacy groups are determined to fight back. All* Above All marked the Roe anniversary by releasing an Abortion Justice Playbook that the organization's president, Nourbese Flint, said "is our blueprint for a future where abortion access is equitable, universal, and free from discrimination."