Remember dear readers that Biden has already said he plans to boost the refugee admissions ceiling for FY2022, which begins in less than three months, to a high not seen in decades—125,000!
Biden said he was aiming for 62,500 this year, but will likely only hit around 10,000.
Remember also that President Trump reduced the ceiling dramatically (to much wailing and moaning by the refugee pushers) and admitted 22,555, 30,000, and 11,814 respectively from FY18-FY20.
Decades ago, following 9/11, we saw low refugee admission numbers, but 11,814 is the lowest in 40 years.
FY02 was 27,000 and FY03 was 28,000 (rounded numbers). Otherwise, in the last few decades the number ranged from roughly 40,000 to 85,000 annually.
Here is the story I found intriguing. Sure looks like the Progs are searching desperately to get their messaging right so as to convince the general public that Trump had it wrong and we now must open the gates to the third worlders from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The poll analyzed below sought to determine if the public was more willing to support large numbers of refugees if they were told they were women and children.
Surprise! It didn’t make a big difference. In fact they suggest that the images at the border of women and children given a free pass may have turned people off!
From International Policy Digest:
By the way, the authors seem to get a little mixed up in the opening paragraphs, confusing the border issue with the refugee program, so I skipped their opening….
Does Framing of Refugee Question Change Public Opinion?
According to research by Mariano Sana covering public opinion on refugees from 1938-2019, Americans tend to view the number of refugees in the U.S. as “about right.” Yet, despite the growing global refugee crisis, the annual refugee ceilings under the Trump administration were the lowest in 40 years and have not returned to pre-Trump levels under the Biden administration.
Presidential administrations have chosen to keep relatively low refugee ceilings partly because of the public backlash. When examining the Syrian refugee crisis, it is easy to see a clear change in U.S. public opinion of refugees. Before the San Bernardino and Paris terrorist attacks, only 19% of U.S. survey respondents believed that the U.S. should stop admitting refugees and 44% of respondents felt like the U.S. should be doing more to aid refugees. However, after the terrorist attacks, there was a shift in the perception of Syrian refugees as threats. Another survey showed that after the San Bernardino and Paris attacks, a slight majority of 53% of Americans said that the U.S. should stop receiving refugees altogether. While these events occurred during the Obama years, this anti-immigrant sentiment carried through the 2016 election and allowed the Trump administration to easily lower the refugee ceiling with little public backlash.
[….]
Past research has found that Americans tend to prefer non-Muslim refugees and women and children. If women and children are seen by the public as more sympathetic and deserving of refugee status, this should increase support for refugee policies overall. However, considering the increase of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border and broader anti-immigration sentiment, such support for women and children has declined.
As you look at the questions the pollsters asked, be aware that the numbers they used (they rounded the numbers I gave you above) are the LOWEST in the history of the US Refugee Admissions Program.
V1: In fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020, the U.S. admitted approximately 23,000, 30,000, and 12,000 refugees respectively. Should the number of refugees entering the U.S. decrease, stay about the same, or increase?
V2: In fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020, the U.S. admitted approximately 23,000, 30,000, and 12,000 refugees respectively, including many women and children. Should the number of refugees entering the U.S. decrease, stay about the same, or increase?
Below is one chart of their initial data.
It is stunning to see that only a small percentage of respondents want to see those (Trump!) numbers increased, even as they are the lowest three consecutive years ever!
Less than 20% want to see an INCREASE from the lowest numbers, and when asked about women and children the number went down!
There is more. Most notably more Republicans (grrrr!) than Democrats wanted to see the numbers increased!
International Policy Digest wraps with this:
The results suggest difficulties in gaining broader sympathy for refugees, which will likely complicate efforts at raising the ceilings on refugees accepted each year.
It is pretty clear what you should do! Tell everyone, even Dems, that you know at every opportunity that Joe is boosting refugee admissions from approximately 12,000 to 125,000 in one year beginning in October!