President Joe Biden increased the current U.S. refugee admissions cap to 62,500, up from the 15,000 set by former President Donald Trump.

The announcement came less than a month after immigrant rights advocates called out Biden for stalling on his promise to increase the limit on refugee admissions. The refugee cap refers to the maximum number of refugees allowed into the country per fiscal year.

Biden said the decision to raise the admissions ceiling came after "additional briefing and a more comprehensive presentation," and it was necessary given the "unforeseen emergency refugee situation"

But Biden said the U.S. will not hit the cap for fiscal year 2021, which ends Sept. 30. 

"The sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year," he said in a May 3 statement. "We are working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years. It will take some time, but that work is already underway."

Trump lowered the cap each year he was in office, and many of the immigration staffers around the world who screen refugees were reassigned to handle asylum cases within the U.S. and other tasks.

Biden said he intends to raise the cap to 125,000 admissions for the next fiscal year.

"The budget that I have submitted to Congress also reflects my commitment to the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions in the first fiscal year of my presidency. That goal will still be hard to hit," Biden said. "We might not make it the first year. But we are going to use every tool available to help these fully-vetted refugees fleeing horrific conditions in their home countries."

To apply for admission as a refugee, people must be outside the U.S.  and must demonstrate to a U.S. immigration official overseas that they were persecuted or fear persecution in their home country due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Refugees arrive here legally after passing background checks and other screenings. (The immigration rules for refugees are different than for the people who arrive in the U.S. seeking asylum.)

PolitiFact will continue to monitor Biden's pledge to increase refugee admissions in upcoming fiscal years as well as the numbers of refugees who are let in every year of his presidency. For now, given his announcement to raise the 2021 cap from 15,000 to 62,500, we rate this promise In the Works.