In 2 years since Russia’s invasion, a U.S. program has resettled 187,000 Ukrainians with little controversy

Pennington, New Jersey — Yana, a 10-year-old fourth-grader from Ukraine with a bright smile and big dreams, said she has felt welcomed in New Jersey and called the United States “very, very, very nice.”

“I like the flowers here,” said Yana in English, which she has learned very quickly. “People aren't, like, mean to anybody. They're being nice to everybody.”

When asked if she feels safe in the United States, Yana said, “Yes.”

About two years ago, the life of Yana and her family was suddenly changed by the Russian invasion of her native country. Olena Kopchak, Yana's mother, remembers the very moment when her neighborhood in the port city of Mykolaiv was bombed by the Russian army.

“We heard powerful explosions,” Kopchak said in his native language. “We couldn't believe it at first … our house was literally moving. It started shaking. We thought it was the end.”

Russia's February 2022 invasion displaced millions of refugees, most of them women and children, triggering the largest refugee exodus in Europe since World War II. As other European countries like Poland and Germany absorbed these refugees, the US quickly followed suit, with President Biden pledging to take in 100,000 Ukrainians.

In April 2022, the Biden administration created an unprecedented program known as “United for Ukraine,” which allowed an unlimited number of U.S.-sponsored Ukrainians to come to the U.S. and work here legally without have to go through the long visa process.

“I didn't sleep that night when the program launched. I was sitting up at midnight waiting for the website to open,” said Lana Rogers, Kopchak's sister and an American citizen who lives in New Jersey.

Rogers used the Unite for Ukraine program to sponsor his sister and her family, who arrived in New Jersey in June 2022. While they initially lived with Rogers and used government assistance for basic needs, Kopchak and her husband have found work and their own apartment. in central New Jersey.

In two years, US immigration officials have approved more than 236,000 cases under the Unite for Ukraine program, according to the Department of Homeland Security. By the end of March, more than 187,000 Ukrainians had arrived in the US under the policy.

Another 350,000 Ukrainians have come to the US outside the sponsorship process since the start of the Russian invasion, mostly through temporary visas, according to DHS.

“The Department has fulfilled President Biden's commitment to welcome Ukrainians fleeing Russia's premeditated and unprovoked war in Ukraine,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

Unlike most US immigration policies, the resettlement of tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees into American communities has occurred with resounding efficiency and relatively little controversy.

Republican-led states, for example, have filed lawsuits against virtually every major immigration policy of the Biden administration, including a similar sponsorship program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. But the Unite for Ukraine program has not been challenged in court. Indeed, some Republican lawmakers have expressed support for taking in Ukrainian refugees.

While the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants at the US-Mexico border has strained some communities such as New York City, Chicago and Denver, the resettlement of Ukrainians has not provoked the same reaction, nor has caused major political problems for the Biden administration. .

Unlike the program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, which has a limit of 30,000 approvals per month, Unite for Ukraine has no numerical limit. Applications for the Unite for Ukraine program are also awarded fairly quickly, sometimes in a matter of weeks or even days, a rarity in a backward and understaffed US immigration system.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of the refugee resettlement organization Global Refuge, said Uniting for Ukraine “shows how the US can act quickly when it wants to.”

Vignarajah said geopolitics is partly behind the warm welcome in the United States for Ukrainian arrivals, who are seen as victims of an anti-American government in Moscow. “There is certainly a sense of solidarity between the American people and the Ukrainian people,” he said.

Another reason Ukrainian refugees have enjoyed a smoother transition to the US than some newcomers, Vignarajah argued, is the unique nature of Unite for Ukraine.

Those who come to the United States under the Union for Ukraine need an American sponsor willing to help them financially, and they can work legally immediately after setting foot on American soil. Congress also made the first wave of Ukrainian refugees eligible for refugee resettlement benefits, such as food stamps.

Migrants from the southern border cannot legally work until 180 days after applying for asylum. They are also generally ineligible for federal benefits. Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arriving under the policy of other sponsors must apply for a work permit before they can legally work.

Vignarajah said race may also play a role in how Ukrainians have been welcomed, compared to other immigrant populations. “Just as racism and xenophobia have permeated so many elements of our society, it took into account the unique treatment Ukrainians received,” he said.

Still, Ukrainians face their own obstacles. Their permission to be in the US under an immigration authority known as humanitarian parole expires every two years, and they do not have a path to permanent legal status or US citizenship.

Although the Biden administration has argued that most Ukrainians will eventually return home after the war in their homeland ends, there are no signs of that happening anytime soon.

“I [cannot] come back,” Kopchak said in English, noting that his hometown of Mykolaiv continues to be bombed by the Russians. “I have no home. I have nothing.”

Costanza Maio contributed to this report.