The United States raised the annual refugee quota to 62,500.

The president, Joe Biden , announced this Monday an increase in the annual quota of refugees that the country welcomes to 62,500, compared to the 15,000 that his predecessor, Donald Trump , had marked , and that had not been modified until now by the new Administration .

In a statement, Biden announces this decision, which, he emphasizes, "removes" the limit of the previous Administration, which "did not represent the values ​​of the United States as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees."

The president recognized, however, that it will be difficult to achieve that annual commitment now because the "damage" done by the Trump administration must be undone .

With this announcement, Biden confirms the commitment that the White House made two weeks ago, when it had to rectify and commit to increasing the quota, after the barrage of criticism received from various organizations, including his party, the Democrat, when he suggested that Trump's 15,000 refugee limit would be maintained.

In the statement on Monday, Biden defended "acting" and thus ending the "doubts", and assured that the United States Refugee Admission Program commits this country to "protect the most vulnerable" and serve as a "beacon of freedom. and refuge in the world ”.

“It is a sample of who we are and what we want to be. That is why we are going to rebuild what has been broken and press to complete the entry process ” of those who are already in the process for their admission, he said.

In the statement, Biden admitted, however, that the figure of 62,500 will not be reached and that it will take time to undo the damage done by the previous Administration.

But the work to achieve this, he insisted, has already begun with the reopening of the program to new refugees, and after the changes in regional distribution that were already made last month.

He added that he continues to maintain his commitment to reach 125,000 admissions in the first fiscal year of his presidency, although he acknowledged that it is a difficult goal to achieve and may not achieve it in the first year.

However, the president assured that the Government will use all the tools at its disposal to help refugees who comply with all the procedures to escape the "horrible conditions" in which they live in their countries of origin.

This Monday the government also announced that since March 28 the number of minors in the custody of the federal Border Patrol has been reduced by 88%.

In a message posted on Twitter, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) noted that the current Administration of US President Joe Biden has “mobilized to rebuild the shelter and processing capacity of children with Faster".

The department reported that on March 28, CBP had more than 5,700 minors in its custody and "today the figure is 677", that is, a reduction of almost 88% and clarified that now "they spend a fraction of the time that were only a month ago in our care ”.

"After inheriting a system totally dismantled by the previous administration (of former President Donald Trump), DHS acted quickly in response to the increase in unaccompanied minors on the southwestern border, " the federal department added.

Under the current administration's immigration policy, the US continues to expel undocumented adults, but accepts and takes into custody minors who arrive alone.

These minors are, initially, in charge of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which must transfer them within 72 hours to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which in March had about 20,000 minors under its custody. custody while searching for relatives in the United States or sponsors.

The high number of migrant children, and the shortage of DHS-supervised accommodations, in turn led to an increase in the number of minors who remained in CBP facilities for more than 72 hours.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, indicated this Monday that "DHS personnel have worked tirelessly in recent weeks to respond and rebuild."

Those efforts have produced substantial results that will ensure the well-being of both the migrants we meet and the US citizenry," he added.

The number of undocumented migrants who arrive at the United States border with Mexico, and are detained by CBP, has been growing for a year and jumped from 101,028 in February to 172,131 in March.

In February, CBP detained 9,881 unaccompanied minors, and the number rose to 18,890 in March.