The United States will accept up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration said Thursday.
The announcement was made during President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe, where he is meeting with leaders from NATO, the G7 and the European Union in three consecutive emergency sessions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is meant to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis going on in Eastern Europe, where nearly 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled the shelled country in one of the biggest refugee crises since World War II.
Refugees poured into Europe, and some even made their way to the southern border of the United States, trying to get into the country that way.
Not only did the Biden administration take in more displaced people, it also announced more than $1 billion in new humanitarian aid funding.
The funding will provide food, shelter, clean water, medical supplies and other forms of assistance, according to the White House.
Ukrainians fleeing a Russian invasion of their homeland wait for a US Customs and Border Protection agent before passing through a United States entry checkpoint in Tijuana, Mexico.
Ukrainians fleeing Russian invasion try to enter US via southern border – Biden administration says it will take in 100,000 refugees
Ukrainians relax in an exhibition hall turned into a refugee center in Nadarzyn, near Warsaw, Poland – almost 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled their country
Refugees from Ukraine stand in line waiting for further transport at the Medyka border crossing, after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border
President Biden will review the refugee situation on Saturday during his visit to Poland.
Poland, which shares some 300 miles of border with Ukraine, has taken in the majority of the refugees—about 2.1 million—but the nearby countries of Romania and Hungary have also taken in many Ukrainians.
Biden has been criticized for not doing more to ease the crisis. He promised to help.
“I will welcome Ukrainian refugees,” he said from the White House on March 11.
Regarding refugees, a senior administration official said the US will focus on Ukrainians who already have families in America and said they expect most Ukrainians to want to stay in Eastern Europe in the hope that they can return to their homes.
“We are working, in particular, to expand and develop new programs with a focus on accepting Ukrainians who have family members in the United States,” the official said at a briefing with reporters.
“We continue to expect that the majority of displaced Ukrainians, citizens, will want to stay in neighboring countries or in other EU countries where they can have families and where there are already large diaspora communities, in the hope that they will be able to return home soon,” the official said. added.
To circumvent the 125,000 refugee limit, the US will use the full range of legal avenues, including the US Refugee Admission Program, others will come on family visas or other procedures known as humanitarian parole.
The exact details of how the refugees would be brought to the States – both legally and logistically – were not clear.
The administration said efforts will also focus on particularly vulnerable populations such as women, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTQI+) people, and persons with disabilities.
The Biden administration will also provide $1 billion in humanitarian aid.
A Ukrainian refugee boy plays at the Humanitarian Aid Center at the Ptak Warsaw Expo in Nadarzyn, near Warsaw.
In addition, President Biden will discuss food security at a meeting with European Union leaders on Thursday afternoon.
Ukraine is a country with developed agriculture, the main crops of which are winter wheat, spring barley and corn.
The senior administration said the Russian invasion “endangers global food security, especially for vulnerable populations in the Middle East and Africa.”