Local groups ready as U.S. streamlines Ukrainian refugee process
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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?”