President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to raise Americas annual refugee admissions target to 125,000, reviving a program that endured deep, historic cuts under the Trump administration.

The U.S. has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and oppressed, a leader in resettling refugees, in our humanitarian response, Biden said in a video recorded for the 40th anniversary of the Jesuit Refugee Service . I promise as president Ill reclaim that proud legacy for our country.

Bidens target, first proposed on the campaign trail, would set an even higher ceiling for admissions than the 110,000 slots approved by President Barack Obama in 2016.

Bidens words aired during a virtual ceremony to commemorate the 1980 founding of the Jesuit Refugee Service, a global Catholic organization initially created to help people fleeing Vietnam.

Boosting the refugee resettlement program is important even as Americans face the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White Houses coronavirus task force who also spoke at the virtual ceremony . Americans shouldnt use the pandemic as an excuse not to welcome refugees, he said.

Amidst the ongoing difficulties of the pandemic, we must not lose sight of the ongoing imperative to attend to their basic human rights and needs, such as health care, said Fauci, a Jesuit high school and college graduate.

Biden pointed out that refugees and immigrants are working on the front lines of the pandemic as doctors, nurses, researchers and farmworkers.

Were safer, stronger, a better country because of their contributions, he said.