U.S. unveils sponsorship program to resettle Ukrainian refugees, discourage travel to U.S.-Mexico border
CBSN
The Biden administration is launching a program that will allow U.S. citizens and groups to financially sponsor Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion of their country so that they can come to the U.S. sooner, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday.
Ukrainians who are selected to travel to the U.S. under the initiative will be granted humanitarian parole, allowing them to bypass the visa and refugee programs, which typically take years to complete. While it does not offer permanent status, parole would allow Ukrainians to live and work in the U.S. for two years.
The sponsorship program, dubbed "Uniting for Ukraine" and set to launch on April 25, is the first concrete U.S. policy aimed at fulfilling President Biden's pledge of welcoming up to 100,000 of the 5 million Ukrainians who have fled their homeland as part of the largest refugee crisis since World War II.
