President Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to dramatically raise the cap on refugees permitted to enter the United States, even above the number during the last year of the Obama administration. “Today, I’m approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need,” Biden said at the State Department in Washington. “It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged.” In early 2017, the cap was at 110,000. Former President Donald Trump lowered it to 15,000 for this fiscal year, which started in October 2020, citing of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Biden said he would raise the cap to 125,000 in the next fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1. Biden directed the State Department to consult with Congress “about making a down payment on that commitment as soon as possible.” Democrats control both …