Ukraine: Biden administration allows Ukrainians who fled the war to stay in the United States

WASHINGTON– The Biden administration is allowing thousands of Ukrainians who fled their homeland during the Russian invasion a year ago to stay longer in the United States, the administration announced Monday. The decision provides relief to Ukrainians whose one-year permission to stay in the United States was soon to expire.

The Department of Homeland Security said the extension affects certain Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members who were permitted to enter the United States before the Uniting for Ukraine program began.

NOTE: The video in the media player is from a previous report.

Ukrainians who arrived under the Uniting for Ukraine program usually got two years of humanitarian “conditional release” in the United States, while those who arrived before them usually only got permission to stay for one year. year.

Thousands of Ukrainians came to America last year to escape war.

The US government used a program called humanitarian parole to admit them to the country. This program is a way to allow people from other countries to enter the United States in an emergency due to an urgent humanitarian situation. But it’s usually for a limited time, like a year or two, and has to be renewed for people to stay longer.

In recent years, humanitarian parole has been used as a quick fix to deal with the fallout from the many global crises that have arisen as the US refugee system that was dismantled by the previous administration was being rebuilt.

Now many groups will see their permission to stay in the United States expire in the coming months, including tens of thousands of Afghans.

This has caused intense anxiety among thousands of people who fled war in their home countries and do not know if they will be deported from the United States when their humanitarian parole status expires. The uncertainty can also be difficult for the companies that employ them and need to ensure that their employees are duly authorized to remain in the country.

Ukraine and immigration have both been hot topics among Republican politicians who are unenthusiastic about continuing war aid and have accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to control migration to the southern border. But even in this toxic political environment, there has been little movement to force Ukrainians back home, reflecting the widespread acceptance that it is still too dangerous for them there.