Trump Administration Orders Sweeping Review of All Refugees Admitted Under Biden

The Trump administration has ordered a sweeping review of every refugee admitted to the United States during President Joe Biden’s tenure, according to a memo obtained Monday by The Associated Press — the latest move to overhaul a program that for decades has offered protection to people fleeing war and persecution.

The review, which could affect nearly 200,000 refugees, is expected to create widespread fear and uncertainty within communities that have already undergone years of security checks before resettling in the U.S. Advocates swiftly condemned the plan, calling it part of the administration’s “cold-hearted treatment” of people who have begun rebuilding their lives.

The memo — signed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow and dated Friday — claims that during the Biden administration, officials prioritized “expediency” and “quantity” over “detailed screening and vetting.” It directs a comprehensive reassessment and “re-interview of all refugees admitted from January 20, 2021, to February 20, 2025.”

USCIS intends to produce a list of refugees to be re-interviewed within 90 days, the memo states. It also immediately suspends all green card adjudications for refugees who arrived during that period. Refugees are required to apply for permanent residency one year after arrival and typically become eligible for citizenship after five.

Edlow wrote that the agency is prepared “to uphold the law and ensure the refugee program is not abused.”

Advocates emphasized that refugees already undergo some of the most rigorous screening of any category of entrant to the United States, often waiting years for approval. They warned the new directive will retraumatize families who have already passed extensive background checks and security interviews.

“This plan is shockingly ill-conceived,” said Naomi Steinberg, vice president of U.S. policy and advocacy at HIAS. “This is a new low in the administration’s consistently cold-hearted treatment of people who are already building new lives and enriching the communities where they now live.”

The memo comes on the heels of earlier moves targeting the refugee program, including its temporary suspension this year and the setting of a historically low admissions cap of 7,500 — the lowest since the program began in 1980, and one that prioritizes mostly white South African applicants. The administration has also intensified broader immigration enforcement as part of its pledge to escalate deportations of undocumented immigrants.

During the Biden administration, the U.S. admitted 185,640 refugees from October 2021 through September 2024. Admissions exceeded 100,000 last year, with the largest numbers coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Syria.

Sharif Aly, president of the International Refugee Assistance Project, condemned the administration’s actions, noting that refugees are “already the most highly vetted immigrants in the United States.”

“Besides the enormous cruelty of this undertaking, it would also be a tremendous waste of government resources to review and re-interview 200,000 people who have been living peacefully in our communities for years,” Aly said.

IRAP is currently part of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the administration’s suspension of refugee admissions.