US President Joe Biden announced, during his speech at the State Department on Thursday, that he would increase the nation’s annual refugee admissions cap to 125,000 in the 12-month period starting Oct. 1.

“The United States’ moral leadership on refugee issues was a point of bipartisan consensus for so many decades,” Biden said. “Our example pushed other nations to open wider doors as well. So 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.

“It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged,” he added.

When preceding President Donald Trump took office in 2017, the refugee ceiling for the fiscal year set by President Barack Obama stood at 110,000. Trump left office after setting a cap of just 15,000 for the current fiscal year—the lowest level since the passage of the Refugee Act in 1980.

The president will have to work with Congress in adjusting the annual limit.