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NPNA Encouraged by Budget Proposal That Gets Closer to A More Just and Effective Immigration System

 

WASHINGTON – The White House today submitted toplines for its fiscal 2022 discretionary budget request, including funds to address backlogs in immigration courts and naturalization proceedings that affect millions of people, as well as for expanding refugee admissions to 125,000 per year and improving services for unaccompanied children arriving at the border. 

 

The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) has long advocated for some of these measures and believe they are worthwhile solutions to remedy some of the problems affecting our immigration system. Increasing the annual resettlement of refugees, for example, is included in the New Deal for New Americans Act, a piece of legislation championed by NPNA.

 

“Today’s proposal is an important step towards a more just and more effective approach to immigration in America,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director of NPNA. “We are particularly encouraged by the proposed funding to reduce the naturalization backlog, and towards admitting 125,000 refugees in the coming fiscal year, up from the unconscionably low 15,000 cap set by the Trump administration. Our role as a welcoming nation of refuge is America at its best, one of our proudest traditions.”

 

Key immigration-related requests in the budget proposal include:

 

  • $345 million to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) to address the naturalization and asylum backlogs and to support refugee admissions of 125,000 in 2022;
  • $4.3 billion to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for a refugee admission goal of 125,000 as well as services for unaccompanied children, including legal services;
  • $891 million to Executive Office for Immigration Review, which houses immigration courts, an 21% increase, to address court backlogs;
  • $3.7 billion, a 6% increase, for states to have employment services and training through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; 
  • $861 million to address root causes of immigration in Central America, as part of a $4 billion commitment over four years.