The Trump administration has ordered a review of all refugees already cleared to enter the U.S. during the Biden era and may require them to undergo a re-interview, according to a memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services obtained by USA TODAY.

All refugees admitted between Jan. 20, 2021, the day before former President Joe Biden took office, and Feb. 20, 2025 will have their applications re-reviewed even if they were already admitted entry to the U.S., according to the memo, which is dated Nov. 21. Refugees admitted outside that time frame could also be re-reviewed, the memo states.

Refugees who were already admitted also may need to submit to another interview to prove they face "past persecution or a well-founded fear," according to the memo. Refugees whose applications are rejected will have no pathway to appeal the decision, it reads.

Almost 197,000 refugees were admitted to the U.S. from 2021 to 2024, an increase from the 118,000 admitted during Trump's first term, but still less than under any other president for the previous half-century, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee program soon after he took office for the second time. His administration will cap refugees it allows into the U.S. at just 7,500, and most of those will be White South Africans, according to a notice published in the Federal Register in late October.

Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said the Biden administration had "accelerated refugee admissions from terror and gang-prone countries, prioritizing sheer numbers over rigorous vetting and strict adherence to legal requirements."

"This reckless approach undermined the integrity of our immigration system and jeopardized the safety and security of the American people. Corrective action is now being taken to ensure those who are present in the United States deserve to be here," she said.

Refugee review a 'travesty'

News of the memo, first reported by Reuters, was met with alarm and indignation among humanitarian and refugee assistance organizations.

"Refugees who entered via the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program are already the most highly vetted immigrants in the United States," Sharif Aly, President of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said in a statement.

"They have come here to find safety and stability after fleeing war, violence, and persecution – to threaten them like this is an insult not only to refugees but to all who have worked to maintain the integrity of this program for decades."

Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, called the review a "travesty."

"The administration knows that these refugees have been heavily vetted, so it is hard to see this as anything but a bad-faith attempt to revoke protection from those who need it," he told USA TODAY.

Shawn VanDiver, the president of AfghanEvac, an organization that resettles Afghan allies following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, said in a statement, "Families who survived war, persecution, and the chaos of America’s withdrawal now find themselves forced back into instability by their own government."

"These individuals have already passed the most exhaustive vetting processes in the world – multiple agencies, biometric checks, layered security reviews."

Naomi Steinberg, vice president of U.S. policy and advocacy at HIAS, a refugee aid society, said, “This plan is shockingly ill-conceived."

“It would retraumatize tens of thousands of vulnerable refugees who already went through years of security vetting prior to stepping on U.S. soil."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump administration orders review of refugees cleared under Biden

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect