Thread by @KarenTumlin

Here's my Friday afternoon decoder ring for today's Refugee cap debacle. 🧵

First, these aren't numbers. Refugees are people fleeing persecution and in the last 4 years our country has shamefully turned its back on refugees. We need to #WelcomeWithDignity /1

Biden pledged to reverse the historically low levels of refugee admissions set by Trump. Trump set a shamefully low cap at 15,000 refugees. Biden pledged to set a humane number of 62,500 refugees this year. But he backtracked & today announced he would keep Trump's number. /2

This came after weeks of inaction by Biden & a failure to set the actual admissions number. This resulted in real harm to real people. Flights were cancelled & people who had been waiting for years in the refugee process had to start required processing checks anew. /3

Then after outrage by refugee providers & advocates we got a second Friday WH announcement saying that this morning's Presidential proclamation was only its 1st announcement & that the WH will "set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15" /4

I have 2 thoughts on today's events.

💡Thought #1: The Biden admin has shown us that it knows how to do big, hard, transformative things. See the budget, see the economic stimulus plans, see the vaccine roll out. I want this Biden admin showing up in the immigration space. /5

I get it, COVID has caused processing delays, the immigration agencies are severely backlogged after 4 years of Trump + Miller rule. But now's the time to channel that we-do-hard-things spirit & tap into the moral clarity that we must do our part to help refugees reach safety. /6

💡Thought #2: As my mom tells me, the proof is in the pudding. If you want to admit more than 15,000 refugees this year, there's no time like today to say so and take the clear steps needed to reach a bolder target. You only miss the targets you fail to set for yourself. 7/7