Russia’s devastating invasion in February 2022 displaced millions upon millions of refugees throughout Europe, with most of them being women and children. Many consider this to be the largest refugee exodus in EU since World War II. President Joe Biden promised to welcome more than 100,000 Ukrainians into the US, following the footstep of other European countries.
Two months after the invasion, the Biden administration announced a new program known as “Uniting for Ukraine”, allowing an unlimited number of Ukrainians sponsored by Americans to legally lives in the US and obtain a work permit while bypassing the usual visa process.
Two years since the introduction of the program, U.S. immigration officials reported to have approved more than 240,000 immigration cases under “Uniting for Ukraine” with another 350,000 Ukrainians arriving in the U.S. outside of the program through temporary visas.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated, “The Department has delivered on President Biden’s commitment to welcome Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
While other immigration programs such as Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans often resulted in backlash and lawsuits against the Biden administration. “Uniting for Ukrain” has not provoked the same controversy and problems for President Biden. Ukrainian refugees have been enjoying a smooth transition in the U.S. compared to other new arrivals.
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