U.S. to extend legal stay of Ukrainian refugees processed along Mexican border

The Biden administration is allowing thousands of Ukrainian refugees who were processed along the southern border after Russia's invasion of Ukraine to remain and work in the U.S. legally for at least another year, according to a government notice obtained by CBS News.

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and displaced millions of refugees, thousands of Ukrainians flew to Mexico seeking to enter the U.S. along the southern border, mainly in California. In a few weeks, U.S. border officials allowed more than 20,000 Ukrainians to enter the country, exempting them from a pandemic restriction known as Title 42 that has blocked hundreds of thousands of migrants from staying in the U.S.

The ad hoc process along the U.S.-Mexico border was shut down in late April after the Biden administration created a formal program for displaced Ukrainians to fly to the U.S. directly if they had American sponsors. Under that program, known as Uniting for Ukraine, more than 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the U.S.