Homeland Security announced plans Thursday to welcome 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country — if Americans step up to sponsor them.
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said individuals or “entities” will have to volunteer as sponsors and pledge to financially support each Ukrainian before they can be admitted. The Ukrainians also would have to pass criminal history checks.
If they clear those hurdles, Ukrainians will be brought in under Mr. Mayorkas’ “parole” powers, which grant refugees a short-term temporary legal status, with the hope of a more permanent status to come later. It’s the same method that was used for the 77,000 Afghans airlifted from Kabul last year.
“We are proud to deliver on President Biden’s commitment to welcome 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing Russian aggression to the United States,” Mr. Mayorkas said.
More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled their country over the two months since Russia’s attack, the U.N. said this week.
Most have ended up in Europe, but some have flown to Mexico where they are attempting to enter across the southern border. Customs and Border Protection recorded nearly 3,300 attempted entries by Ukrainians from Mexico in March, and nearly 2,000 more at airports.
So far, people coming across from Mexico have been admitted despite their illegal entry. But Homeland Security said once the parole policy goes into effect April 25, border jumpers will be “denied” and told to apply for admission through the Uniting for Ukraine program instead.
Mr. Mayorkas had initially predicted most Ukrainians are expected to stay closer to their home country, with hopes of returning after Russia’s war on their country is concluded.
But the surge of people heading to the U.S. in March suggests there are still large numbers seeking to reach here, and Mr. Biden says the country must play a role in helping take pressure off European nations.
In announcing the new program Thursday, Mr. Biden said he hoped it would deter the southern border crossings.
“It will provide an expedient channel for secure, legal migration from Europe to the United States for Ukrainians who have a U.S. sponsor such as a family or an NGO. This program will be fast, it will be streamlined,” the president said.
Using parole and U.S. sponsorship is a novel approach to a refugee crisis, both sides of the immigration debate agreed.
Some analysts said it goes too far.
R.J. Hauman, head of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said Homeland Security’s parole power was never meant to invite whole classes of people into the U.S.
“This announcement also begs the question: What is more important to Secretary Mayorkas — those forced from their homes by Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, or the wholesale breach of our nation’s borders?” Mr. Hauman said.
The U.S. already had one run-through with a mass parole last year, when it evacuated 77,000 Afghans directly from their country amid Mr. Biden’s troop withdrawal.
The chaos of that evacuation is still being felt, and the Biden administration has yet to reveal key details of the operation, but has acknowledged people were brought to the U.S. without the full panoply of security checks that would have been done on other arrivals.
An inspector general found dozens of Afghans with security flags were released into the U.S., where the government lost track of them.
In the case of Ukrainians, Homeland Security says they have to have been living in Ukraine as of Feb. 11, or just before the start of the war. They will have to pass a health screening and a records and security check.
The announcement made no mention of an in-person interview, and Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for information on what other checks would be done.
Those seeking to sponsor Ukrainians will also have to pass background checks to prevent situations of abuse or exploitation.
The U.K. has launched a similar sponsorship program, which has already seen some embarrassing hiccups. The U.N. had to plead with the U.K. to stop matching single Ukrainian women with single British men sponsors.
Immigrant rights groups said they were “disappointed” in the financial sponsorship aspect, saying it was an attempt to “outsource” the country’s obligation to support refugees.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said Washington must create a “safety net” for new arrivals to help them live and work while they start new lives.
She and other activists said also chided the administration for failing to offer a similar path to tens of thousands of Afghans who got left behind during last year’s airlift.
Activists also said the federal government needs to pump more money into refugee-assistance groups to help sponsor and support those Ukrainians who do make it here.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this story.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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