The Biden administration’s strategy of taking in fleeing Ukrainians using methods outside of the US refugee program will result in tens of thousands of people in the US getting by without the help or resources normally offered to refugees.
President Biden has pledged to take in 100,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian aggression.
But the administration acknowledged on Thursday that the bulk of these refugees will not make it through the formal program for those fleeing violence.
Instead, many will enter the country through a humanitarian parole program that was established this week, allowing Ukrainians to stay in the country for up to two years, with officials temporarily waiving immigration requirements for Ukrainians who can attract US-based sponsors.
“We’ve heard from a lot of Ukrainians that they’re really looking for some kind of temporary refuge in the US with their family, with other people they have connections with,” a senior government official told reporters this week.
“So this program will likely be the majority of the 100,000,” the official added.
The recognition renews questions about the Biden administration’s progress in rebuilding the US refugee-taking program, which has significantly atrophied under the Trump administration.
But it has also raised concerns about what help will be given to Ukrainian refugees who will not have legal refugee status and permanent residency in the US
“The refugee resettlement program is right up their alley for this population and they’re bypassing it and I’m not sure why,” said Melanie Nezer, senior vice president of public affairs at HIAS, formerly known as The Hebrew Society for Immigrant Assistance.
“The US government says it can do all the necessary security screening, health screening and vaccinations in a relatively short amount of time [for the parole program]. … Why can’t the government do that for refugee resettlement, which is a status that puts people in control of their future?” She added.
The humanitarian parole program may bring Ukrainians to the US faster than the refugee program, but that speed comes at a cost.
“I think the two main disadvantages are the temporary nature of the reception and the lack of any support services,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, told The Hill.
“We are talking about Ukrainian refugees who have been through so much trauma, many have escaped with only a small backpack, and they are coming to a new country, in some cases to start a new life. And the idea that we’re outsourcing responsibility for aid is weird,” she added.
Your experience will be significantly different from the experience of those who come to the United States through the refugee program.
“We work with local resettlement organizations across the country who do the work of literally welcoming families to the airport and making sure they have access to housing, schools, employment and medical care, and then there is short-term cash assistance for many people who are refugees literally come here with nothing,” said Nezer.
Some also offer help with learning English, writing resumes, and contacting jobs.
While perhaps the majority of Ukrainians will enter the country through the humanitarian parole program, many are already here, having crossed the US-Mexico border. Ukrainian nationals were exempted from Title 42, which was largely used to expel Central American migrants without allowing them to seek asylum.
According to CBS News, at least 10,000 Ukrainian migrants entered the United States this way from February to April 6 — a number that has likely increased since then.
Speaking to reporters, administration officials said the parole program is “self-selected” as many Ukrainians may not want to stray far from loved ones. It is also limited to those who can attract sponsors who are willing to testify that they can financially support the parole officer.
However, some Ukrainians have already turned up at various agencies, and refugee resettlement organizations have had to explain that they are technically not eligible for assistance.
Refugee resettlement agencies are contracted by the US government to provide these services and receive federal funding to do so.
Vignarajah said that left her organization to raise private funds to open a few welcome centers.
Elissa Diaz, associate director for policy and advocacy at Church World Service, another resettlement agency, said they are urging the government to approve aid to Ukrainians, but that would require an act of Congress “that would probably have to be accompanied by the necessary funding”.
In the longer term, proponents also worry about what will happen to Ukrainians if the war continues.
“This whole argument that ‘this is temporary and only for Ukrainians who want to be in the United States temporarily’ somehow ignores the reality, which is that people want to go home so badly that they might not be able to,” he said Niezer.
Relative safety in Ukraine is unlikely to be seen in weeks or even months, she said, while rebuilding the country will take years.
And the US application of humanitarian parole to Afghanistan has highlighted the lack of political will when it comes to meeting their needs. Some Afghans have been granted probation for as little as one year on humanitarian grounds and are expected to lose their status as early as August.
“Probation on humanitarian grounds can be extended, but there is no path to permanent status unless Congress acts, and Congress has not yet acted against the Afghans. So there is concern that this temporary status will not be resolved, and it is inevitable that some people will not be able to go home or will not want to go. That’s how it worked historically,” said Nezer.
Government officials said they would continue to relocate some Ukrainians through the refugee program, citing a special program for religious minorities known as the Lautenberg program.
But there is a problem there too.
Officials said they are attempting to contact about 18,000 Ukrainians already in the pipeline for refugee status through the Lautenberg program. But in March they only relocated 12.
The US has resettled just 8,758 people so far this fiscal year, a far cry from Biden’s target of 125,000.
Vignarajah said the program needed to be fixed, not short-circuited.
“Refugee resettlement is a system created on Cold War principles, and it should be the means by which we protect vulnerable people fleeing war and violence on a scale similar to Putin’s strategy of burned earth has caused. But it is also a system governed by residue. And when the average time to process refugee claims is five years, that time frame doesn’t work for those fleeing for their lives,” she said.
“We have seen in the last year that humanitarian probation has been used as the main response in two humanitarian crises. I think that reflects us turning to patch approaches rather than fixing the broader system,” she added.
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However, by preferring probation, Nezer said they are also depriving Ukrainians of their freedom of choice.
“As much as people want to go home, maybe they can’t, and then what? The administration does not answer ‘And then?’ The refugee resettlement program … gives people a path to permanent status, certainly allows them to go home if conditions change, but it also allows them to establish their lives and the lives of their children in the United States and to plan for a future,” she said.
“It gives them a choice,” she added.