After Pressure from Left, Biden Relents on Refugee Restrictions

President Biden is being accused of flip-flopping after announcing a change in refugee intake policy hours after signing the order. Coverage of the left was scathing towards Biden while the right framed it as caving to the left.

Summary

On Friday, President Joe Biden signed an order keeping the limit of refugees to be accepted by the United States at 15,000, sparking “a deluge of criticism” from Capitol Hill, with members of Congress comparing him to his predecessor former President Donald Trump.

• After the blowback, Biden told reporters Saturday while golfing that he plans to issue an order to “go beyond the 15,000 limit”, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirming it will happen by May 15.
• While saying he will increase the cap, Biden defended his administration’s previous decision, saying the crisis on the border prevented them from doing “two things at once.”
• The White House has been under pressure from pro-immigration activists after dragging its feet for several months despite campaign promises, while the border situation has grown worse and the administration’s internal blame game has HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in the crosshairs (HHS is tasked with housing minors who cross the border unaccompanied).

• Huffington Post highlighted criticism of the Biden administration’s actions and policies, which was characterized as “incoherent.”
• Vox framed the move to lift the cap as a possible “electoral trap” and characterized any opposition to it as “paranoid nationalism” subject to “nativist panic and fearmongering.”
• The Washington Post editorial board read Biden the riot act, saying he “would do well to re-read his own campaign’s clear-eyed pronouncements” on immigration and refugees.

• Prior to Friday’s announcements, OANN highlighted Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s implorations to Biden to raise the cap, saying the United States has a “moral responsibility” to take in refugees.
• Breitbart’s coverage framed the reversal as Biden caving to Facebook-funded pro-immigration activists and “overruling staff.”
• Townhall.com gave Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the spotlight in their coverage, in which she accused Biden of “upholding the xenophobic and racist policies of the Trump admin”, while Townhall mocked the left by saying the increase in migrants means “we’re going to have to build more concentration camps”, referring to detention centers radical left activists have called concentration camps during the Trump administration.

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© Dallas Gerber, 2021