Local groups ready as U.S. streamlines process for Ukrainian refugees
Without clear guidance from the federal government on how to resettle 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. in early April, Dana Bucin headed to the U.S.-Mexico border.
There, about 15,000 Ukrainians, who had fled their home country since Feb. 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine, wound up while seeking refuge in the United States.
When Bucin, a Hartfordbased attorney, arrived at the California crossing, she was told there were between 700 and 1,000 Ukrainians being processed each day at the border checkpoint, with many waiting for days, even weeks, at a makeshift refugee camp established on the Mexican side in a sports facility.
A native of Romania, Bucin is an attorney at Murtha Cullina in Hartford representing clients with visa, greencard, and citizenship applications. On the U.S. side, local churches, non-profit organizations, and registered volunteers established a “hub” to coordinate assistance efforts.
“I sat down at the legal table, and I just furiously answered questions that were coming from lots of refugees,” she said, adding an estimate that she directly and indirectly, “affected the legal situation for about 2,000 refugees during the three days” she was there.
The President Joe Biden administration has since given guidance and made it more clear on how Ukrainians can resettle in the U.S. The federal government plans to streamline refugee applications, while also shutting down the U.S.Mexico route that had been created.
Federal officials have said they expect to admit up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and a $33 billion proposal from Biden that would bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia and provide funds to support those who have fled to America.
While the process is now streamlined and organizations across the country, including in Connecticut, prepare to help resettle peopl from Ukraine, Bucin said trying to help in Mexico was a challenge as they juggled numerous cases.
In one case, a Ukrainian but also a U.S. citizen with a spouse from Moldova and three children, including a one month old baby, were turned away from the Ukrainian only checkpoint given her citizenship status, but when attempting to cross at the main border crossing, her Moldovan spouse was denied entry and told to go through the regular green card process – which can take between 12 to 18 months, or, in rare, urgent cases maybe six to eight weeks, Bucin explained.
“These people don't have time to wait six to eight weeks – they are a married couple with three kids, including a one-month-old baby,” she added. “They only managed to get through on their second or third attempt, and even so they were basically detained for seven hours.”
The policy also does not accommodate any non-Ukrainian citizens with equally troubling reasons for seeking refugee status. Bucin said she saw a group of Russians who were fleeing the Putin regime “and they were just getting the rough end of Title 42 — they did not get the same treatment [as the Ukrainians].”
“It broke my heart because I saw there were nurses who were called by Putin to support the war effort in the Ukraine and instead of reporting for such a criminal endeavor, they decided to flee Russia and now they are at the border asking for asylum and they are not allowed in,” she said.
New policy
According to a description of the Uniting for Ukraine initiative, provided by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agency tasked with administering the new program, the planned, “streamlined process” allows people who were residents of Ukraine as of February 11 to apply for a “humanitarian parole” designation needed to enter the U.S. for a period of up to two years.
Applicants seeking immigration status through the new program must “have a sponsor in the U.S., complete vaccinations and other public health requirements, and pass rigorous bio-metric and biographic screening and vetting security checks.”
“This program will be fast, it will be streamlined, and will ensure the United States honors its commitment to the people of Ukraine who need not go through our southern border,” Biden said recently.
The president had pledged the country would accept 100,000 Ukrainians in a speech delivered last month on a visit to Europe but as of late April only about 15,000 Ukrainians had entered the United States since the start of the conflict, according to the U.S. Government, though mostly through the U.S.Mexico border.
The entries happened despite a public health order enacted during the pandemic allowing immigration authorities to turn away migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border before they could claim asylum. The Biden Administration had exempted Ukrainians from that rule, known as Title 42, but will no longer do so in lieu of the Uniting for Ukraine program which is designed to allow eligible refugees to enter the U.S. directly.
Organizations ready
Under the Uniting for Ukraine policy, officially enacted on April 25, any U.S.-based citizen or individuals, including representatives of any non-government organization will be able to apply to sponsor a Ukrainian citizen under the new process, according to the Department of Homeland Security website.
Discussing the new avenue, Ann O'Brien, Director of Community Engagement for the Integrated Refugee & immigration Services in Hartford explained how there are different pathways defined by law in terms of how people can enter the U.S., with one being “refugee status” as defined by U.S. law.
“The vast majority of people that are being talked about right now in the news as far as the 100,000 that the U.S. said they will welcome will not come through the federal refugee resettlement program – that takes multiple years,” O'Brien said.
O'Brien pointed out the new policy gives an expedited route to a so-called “humanitarian parole” status for a period of up to two years. The designation possible with direct, fiscal sponsorship offered from residents of the U.S. or organizations seeking to sponsor Ukrainian citizens who can essential provide proof of fiscal liability for those they are seeking to sponsor
“To be clear if they are going to stay for more just than the short term, they will have to make an asylum claim to the U.S. government,” O'Brien added. “And that is a system that was back logged beyond belief before last August when we brought in 70,000 Afghans that were rescued and evacuated – all of those people have to request asylum and now the Ukrainians, if they want to stay. So, it's going to be long process for everybody.”
Rev. Bryn Smallwood-Garcia of the Congregational Church of Brookfield said a group of volunteers began ramping up its refugee resettlement work in recent months, “and the Ukraine crisis has added urgency to that effort.”
The church leader had not been in contact with any Ukrainians seeking refugee status in Connecticut, adding it wasn't immediately clear how that might unfold under the newly announced immigration policy. For years, the church has successfully worked to help resettle refugee families from places like Iraq, Syria, and countries in western Africa — those connections made possible through a strong partnership with IRIS.
“It's tremendously rewarding,” Smallwood-Garcia said of the work done by members of the church. “What do they say in the army, ‘its the hardest job you will ever love?' Every family has come with its own set of challenges.”
Back in Hartford now, Bucin and other immigration attorneys are preparing to navigate the Uniting for Ukraine process introduced last week. Praising the Biden administration for what she called a “needed” policy, Bucin noted a hint of concern based on its similarities to a humanitarian parole process implemented for Afghans fleeing violence in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the country last year.
In the months following the pullout, Bucin said she filed paperwork for 70 Afghans fleeing violence seen in the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country last year.
“All 70 have been denied – all of them,” she said. “In one of my cases, the person was an officer in the Afghan army and his son was kidnapped by the Taliban because they wanted to get to him – so even after that, the U.S. denied his humanitarian parole – making you wonder, who in the world do they approve?”
“Right now as an attorney who is about to file a bunch of them for Ukrainians, I am very concerned that it will take the same fate as the Afghan humanitarian paroles – and so what is the point?”