Pennington, New Jersey — Yana, a 10-year-old fourth-grader from Ukraine with a bright smile and big dreams, said she has felt welcome in New Jersey and called the United States “very, very, very nice.”
“I like the flowers here,” Yana said in English, which she has learned surprisingly quickly. “People are not mean to anyone. They are kind to everyone.”
When asked if she felt safe in the United States, Yana said, “Yes.”
About two years ago, Yana and her family’s life suddenly changed due to the Russian invasion of their home country. Olena Kopchak, Yana’s mother, remembers the precise moment the Russian army bombed her neighborhood in the port city of Mykolaiv.
“We heard loud 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.”
Courtesy of Olena Kopchak
The Russian invasion of February 2022 displaced millions of refugees, most of them women and children, causing the largest exodus of refugees in Europe since World War II As other European countries such as Poland and Germany absorbed these refugees, the United States quickly followed suit, with President Biden promising to welcome 100,000 Ukrainians.
In April 2022, the Biden administration created an unprecedented program known as “United for Ukraine,” allowing an unlimited number of American-sponsored Ukrainians to come to the United States and work here legally without having to go through the lengthy visa process. .
“I didn’t sleep that night when the program launched. I was sitting there waiting at midnight for the website to open,” said Lana Rogers, Kopchak’s sister and a U.S. citizen who lives in New Jersey.
Rogers used the United for Ukraine program to sponsor her 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 since found job and his own apartment. in central New Jersey.
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In two years, U.S. immigration officials have approved more than 236,000 cases under the United for Ukraine program, according to the Department of Homeland Security. By the end of March, more than 187,000 Ukrainians had arrived in the United States under this policy.
Another 350,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the United States outside the sponsorship process since the start of the Russian invasion, mainly through temporary visas, according to the DHS.
“The Department has fulfilled President Biden’s commitment to welcome Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked war against Ukraine,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Unlike most American immigration policies, the resettlement of tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in American communities has occurred with resounding efficiency and relatively little controversy.
Republican-led states, for example, have filed lawsuits against virtually all of the Biden administration’s major immigration policies, including a similar sponsorship program for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. But the United for Ukraine program has not been challenged in court. In fact, some Republican lawmakers have expressed support for welcoming Ukrainian refugees.
While the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants at the US-Mexico border has strained resources in some communities such as New York City, Chicago and Denver, the resettlement of Ukrainians has not provoked the same reaction or triggered problems important politicians for the Biden administration. .
Unlike the program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, which has a limit of 30,000 approvals per month, United for Ukraine has no numerical limit. Applications for the United for Ukraine program are also awarded fairly quickly, sometimes in a matter of weeks or even days, something unusual in a backlogged and understaffed U.S. immigration system.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of the refugee resettlement organization Global Refuge, said United for Ukraine “shows how the United States can act quickly when it wants to.”
Vignarajah said geopolitics are partially behind the warm reception in the United States toward Ukrainian arrivals, who are seen as victims of an anti-American government in Moscow. “There is certainly a sense of solidarity between the American and Ukrainian people,” she said.
Another reason Ukrainian refugees have enjoyed a smoother transition in the United States than some newcomers, Vignarajah argued, is the unique nature of United for Ukraine.
Those who come to the United States under the United for Ukraine program 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 to receive refugee resettlement benefits, such as food stamps.
Immigrants from the southern border cannot legally work until 180 days after requesting asylum. They are also generally not eligible to receive federal benefits. Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arriving under another sponsor’s policy have to apply for a work permit before they can legally work.
Vignarajah said race may also be influencing how Ukrainians have been received, compared to other immigrant populations. “Just as racism and xenophobia have permeated so many elements of our society, they also influenced the unique treatment Ukrainians received,” she said.
Still, Ukrainians face their own obstacles. Their permission to be in the United States under an immigration authority known as compassionate parole expires every two years and they lack a path to permanent legal status or U.S. citizenship.
While the Biden administration has argued that most Ukrainians will eventually return home once the war in their homeland ends, there are no signs that will happen anytime soon.
“I can’t go back,” Kopchak said in English, noting that his hometown of Mykolaiv continues to be bombed by the Russians. “I don’t have a house. I don’t have anything.”
Costanza Maio contributed to this report.
Camilo Montoya-Gálvez