Greater than 3 million individuals have fled Ukraine to neighboring nations since Russia invaded on February 24, in keeping with United Nations information, however the US has solely admitted a number of hundred Ukrainian refugees up to now, leaving some critics questioning U.S. authorities coverage.
WHY HASN’T THE U.S. TAKEN IN MORE UKRAINIAN REFUGEES?
U.S. President Joe Biden and his prime officers have mentioned the US stands prepared to just accept refugees if wanted, however the administration has repeatedly signaled that Europe ought to be the first vacation spot for Ukrainians. Learn full story
“We’re going to welcome Ukrainian refugees with open arms if, in truth, they arrive all the best way right here,” Biden mentioned on March 11 throughout a gathering of fellow Democrats in Philadelphia.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White Home Press Secretary Jen Psaki have made related feedback. Psaki mentioned on March 10 that the administration believes the “overwhelming majority” of refugees will wish to stay in neighboring nations the place many have household, buddies and former employers.
The U.S. State Division has mentioned that it’ll work with the United Nations to convey refugees to the US within the occasion Ukrainian refugees lack safety in Europe, “allowing for that resettlement to the US shouldn’t be a fast course of.”
Refugee resettlement can take years, although the Biden administration sped up the method for Afghans following the U.S. army withdrawal from Afghanistan final August. Learn full story Classes from that have may assist expedite the resettlement of different refugees, three U.S. officers advised Reuters.
WHO IS CALLING FOR MORE REFUGEE ADMISSIONS?
A bunch of greater than three dozen Democratic lawmakers urged Biden in a March 11 letter to extend refugee admissions and permit Ukrainians with members of the family in the US to enter sooner by a short lived mechanism often known as “humanitarian parole.”
Consultant Raul Ruiz, a doctor skilled in emergency drugs and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which wrote the letter, traveled to the Poland-Ukraine border earlier this month as a part of a delegation of Democrats and Republicans.
“The disaster may overwhelm the nations at present internet hosting most of the Ukrainian refugees, and the US should lead within the effort to help these nations in serving to the weak escape battle,” he wrote within the letter to Biden.
Consultant Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana and Ukrainian immigrant, was within the delegation and advised Fox Information that the humanitarian response can’t be neighbor Poland’s “drawback alone.”
The urgency of the disaster was underscored by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s spouse Olena Zelenska, who advised ABC Information she was calling on American ladies to assist Ukrainian ladies and youngsters searching for refuge.
A coalition of greater than two dozen Jewish-American organizations additionally pressed Biden final week to extend admissions of Ukrainian refugees, saying that “our group is aware of painfully too nicely what occurs when America shuts its doorways to refugees.”
COULD THE U.S. ACCEPT MORE UKRAINIAN REFUGEES?
No information is publicly out there but for March though the US admitted solely 514 Ukrainian refugees in January and February throughout Russia’s build-up to the battle, in keeping with U.S. State Division information.
Biden set the general refugee ceiling for this yr at 125,000 after his predecessor Donald Trump, a Republican, slashed admissions to a record-low 15,000, which gutted this system and led to processing delays already worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden has put aside 10,000 of the 125,000 refugee slots for individuals from Europe and Central Asia, which encompasses Ukraine, however that allotment will be expanded if wanted, and is expediting sure circumstances.
WHAT HAPPENS TO UKRAINIANS WHO TRY TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES FROM MEXICO?
Hundreds of Ukrainians and Russians have been touring to the U.S.-Mexico border to hunt asylum, a pattern that might speed up because the humanitarian disaster worsens, Reuters reported earlier this month. Learn full story
In the course of the first 5 months of this fiscal yr, which started final October, U.S. authorities on the southwest border encountered about 1,300 Ukrainians, largely at ports of entry, in comparison with about 680 for all the final fiscal yr.
Most Ukrainians have been allowed into the US to pursue their immigration circumstances, not like migrants from different nations who are sometimes expelled to Mexico or different nations beneath a pandemic-era order often known as Title 42.
Anecdotal reviews have surfaced, nonetheless, of a handful of Ukrainians arriving on the southwest border in latest days and being refused entry.
IF THE U.S. ISN’T ACCEPTING MANY UKRAINIAN REFUGEES, WHAT IS IT DOING?
The U.S. authorities is devoting vital financial assist to help the European nations receiving refugees. Learn full story
Biden signed into regulation a spending invoice on Tuesday that gives $13.6 billion to assist Ukraine and European allies, together with about $4 billion to help individuals fleeing. Learn full story
The U.S. authorities additionally introduced earlier this month that it’ll grant Non permanent Protected Standing (TPS) to an estimated 75,000 Ukrainians already in the US. Learn full story
The standing will provide them deportation aid and work permits for 18 months and will be renewed on the finish of that interval, however is not going to apply to individuals who arrived after March 1.
(Reuters)