Biden administration weighing expediting some Ukrainian refugee cases

[Boiler 45,486]

The Biden administration is considering expediting the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees with US ties, including family already living here, according to a US official. This comes amid growing calls from advocates to do more for the millions of people fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly committed to welcoming Ukrainian refugees to the US, but the reality for those trying to reconnect with family in the US is different given the limited ways Ukrainians can legally come to the country.
Nearly 3 million people have already fled Ukraine into neighboring countries, according to the United Nations' refugee agency. While most Ukrainian refugees are likely to stay in Europe, there are those who want to come to the US where they have family. There are more than 1 million people of Ukrainian ancestry in the US, according to 2019 census estimates.
But the options for Ukrainian refugees looking to come to the US are limited. The US refugee resettlement process, for example, can take years to complete, prompting a push from advocates to expedite the process for people who already have relatives in the US and could more easily settle down where those family members are located.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/14/politics/ukraine-refugees-us-biden/index.html

[millefleur 5,046]

I know some people will disagree  but I support making it easier for Ukrainians with US ties coming here. Especially if their American relatives can provide housing and other sponsorship, I think it's logical. A lot of the refugees in Poland and other Euro countries right now are basically living in shelters, and just throwing money at the situation (such as all the "donate to Ukraine" charities) won't solve it overnight.

 

Whether or not the Biden administration actually does anything about it is another matter. USCIS being backed up as it is, seems like hiring more people/extra funding would be needed to offer any real help.

[Boiler 45,486]

I know we tend to focus on Ukraine due to the mono nature of the MSM, I do not see how logically you could just focus on Ukrainians if you are going to introduce some special process. I suppose they could ask the UNHCR to prioritise who they refer?

 

One thing I have noticed is the lack of coverage of Russians who would wish to seek safety.

 

And of course all the other Countries involved in conflict and turmoil.

 

 

[millefleur 5,046]

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

One thing I have noticed is the lack of coverage of Russians who would wish to seek safety.

I doubt we will see coverage of this unfortunately. Europe used to take Russians fleeing persecution pretty often before the invasion, it was difficult yes but doable. It was easy to get a Schengen visa and then enter from there. Getting a B visa for Russians has always been so much harder, and now with Covid and the embassy being shut, it's a huge issue. There's also some weirdness going on with discrimination at the European borders, word on the street says some dual citizen Russian-Ukrainians are not being allowed to enter Europe now unless they have a long stay Schengen visa, so no visitors allowed. It sounds a bit like mass hysteria to me, I don't know how that is legal.

 

13 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I do not see how logically you could just focus on Ukrainians if you are going to introduce some special process. I suppose they could ask the UNHCR to prioritise who they refer?

10 minutes ago, Boiler said:

And of course all the other Countries involved in conflict and turmoil.

I totally agree. I know that there are a lot of Ukrainians in the US so I think that could potentially help connect those with relatives here to the ones fleeing. It's anecdotal but I've met more Ukrainians here than Russians, even ones who own "Russian" grocery stores are often Ukrainian or have family in Ukraine. However, it's very true that there are so many other people fleeing war or danger right now in other countries, if we make it easier for Ukrainians with US ties, we should only do the same for those other nationalities. It's only fair.

 

I think the main issue right now for all people in such situations is, if they need a visa to even get on the plane and cross the border, how would that be solved? Obviously they'd need to be subject to background checks such as B visa applicants go through. It doesn't seem like there is a quick solution. I wonder about how we handled the Yugoslav war refugees in the past as I knew so many of them who came over during the 90's and 00's, often their whole families.

[Boiler 45,486]

2 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I think the main issue right now for all people in such situations is, if they need a visa to even get on the plane and cross the border, how would that be solved? Obviously they'd need to be subject to background checks such as B visa applicants go through. It doesn't seem like there is a quick solution. I wonder about how we handled the Yugoslav war refugees in the past as I knew so many of them who came over during the 90's and 00's, often their whole families.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-europe-united-states-san-diego-c059bda77e801b6e71119aba59ca0bfa

 

I was looking around and found this from yesterday. Now seems a messy option but seems to work.

 

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Maksim Derzhko calls it one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. A longtime opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he flew from Vladivostok to the Mexican border city of Tijuana with his 14-year-daughter and was in a car with seven other Russians. All that separated them from claiming asylum in the United States was a U.S. officer standing in traffic as vehicles inched toward inspection booths.

The emotions are “hard to put into words,” he says. “It’s fear. The unknown. It’s really hard. We had no choice.”

The gamble worked. After spending a day in custody, Derzkho was released to seek asylum with his daughter, joining thousands of Russians who have recently taken the same route to America.

[millefleur 5,046]

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

The gamble worked. After spending a day in custody, Derzkho was released to seek asylum with his daughter, joining thousands of Russians who have recently taken the same route to America.

Interesting, this explains the "Russians and Ukrainians at the Mexican border" thing I've been hearing about for months now. Is there some kind of refugee processing center at the Mexican border that makes this possible? I wonder if there's any official USCIS/CBP policy anywhere that actually confirms this.

[Boiler 45,486]

8 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Interesting, this explains the "Russians and Ukrainians at the Mexican border" thing I've been hearing about for months now. Is there some kind of refugee processing center at the Mexican border that makes this possible? I wonder if there's any official USCIS/CBP policy anywhere that actually confirms this.

San Yisidro I think is the largest crossing point on the Mexican border so I am sure they have extensive facilities, but not enough to house thousands of applicants.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Boiler

[slavaskii 886]

27 minutes ago, millefleur said:

There's also some weirdness going on with discrimination at the European borders, word on the street says some dual citizen Russian-Ukrainians are not being allowed to enter Europe now unless they have a long stay Schengen visa, so no visitors allowed. It sounds a bit like mass hysteria to me, I don't know how that is legal.

It's indeed very strange. When my fiancee crossed by bus into Poland, the guards (don't remember if they were Belarusian or Polish) turned away a Russian with a Swiss passport. Everyone on the bus was really confused as to why that happened, but the guards weren't buying it for some reason.

 

The Polish border guard was also very, very hard on everyone. They made everyone stand nine hours in the border facility and go through a really extensive (and somewhat humiliating) search and mockery. Lots of yelling in Polish at people who, mostly, understood nothing. It was a very different experience from what crossing the border typically is. I fear that, as you said, the mass hysteria is becoming normalized. 

 

To switch quickly to the topic, though, I completely agree with @Boiler that this seems largely the product of the MSM. I can't help but think of the tens of thousands of Belarusians that were arrested and beaten over the past two years for a democracy movement supported by the US and then ignored when it failed. I understand, of course, there's a difference between an actual war and what happened in Belarus (and Russia, to an extent), but there absolutely needs to be a system for this. The most logical way would be to ensure anyone with a pending visa application got immediate treatment, as it's more reasonable for them to stay in the US than be a refugee in Europe. That's a fair bandaid that could also easily be applied to those fleeing Belarus/Russia. 

[millefleur 5,046]

7 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

It's indeed very strange. When my fiancee crossed by bus into Poland, the guards (don't remember if they were Belarusian or Polish) turned away a Russian with a Swiss passport. Everyone on the bus was really confused as to why that happened, but the guards weren't buying it for some reason.

This is so weird. I know my sister-in-law crossed the Estonia border some weeks ago but she has a Schengen student visa (so long stay, somewhat.) She's only a Russian citizen though, no other passports. She was allowed in. But she said other people on her bus who were dual Russian citizens with other countries were not being let in. It just sounds completely nonsensical and based on nothing other than whims of the border guards.

 

9 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

I can't help but think of the tens of thousands of Belarusians that were arrested and beaten over the past two years for a democracy movement supported by the US and then ignored when it failed.

I couldn't agree more. I hope the system gets reevaluated because it's pretty obvious that as it is makes little sense. Everyone having to pour into the Mexican border does not seem like a sustainable solution either.

[Lonny&Kris 16]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

I know some people will disagree  but I support making it easier for Ukrainians with US ties coming here. Especially if their American relatives can provide housing and other sponsorship, I think it's logical. A lot of the refugees in Poland and other Euro countries right now are basically living in shelters, and just throwing money at the situation (such as all the "donate to Ukraine" charities) won't solve it overnight.

 

Whether or not the Biden administration actually does anything about it is another matter. USCIS being backed up as it is, seems like hiring more people/extra funding would be needed to offer any real help.

If the administration actually did decide to allow Ukrainian refugees with family ties, would that cover spouses or k1 filer's for example? I'm admittedly not very educated when it comes to rules and regulations regarding refugees. Trying to learn as much as I can about any forms of immigration that may become useful for this ongoing situation that can and has changed a lot. I've been waiting for about 2 weeks to hear if our expedite request has been approved or not and want to know all of any other options should they become available.

[slavaskii 886]

1 minute ago, millefleur said:

This is so weird. I know my sister-in-law crossed the Estonia border some weeks ago but she has a Schengen student visa (so long stay, somewhat.) She's only a Russian citizen though, no other passports. She was allowed in. But she said other people on her bus who were dual Russian citizens with other countries were not being let in. It just sounds completely nonsensical and based on nothing other than whims of the border guards.

There was one person on the bus who claimed that the dual-citizens get denied because there's fears they're "running" from something illegal in the country. Like an unpaid fine, for instance. Apparently, it's a 'trick' to switch passports at the border to try to avoid getting caught for something previously done... I mean, perhaps? Belarus flatly doesn't recognize dual-citizenship so to me it makes sense to turn someone away at the border who perhaps entered in on a Russian passport and is trying to depart on a Swiss (as they'd have no record of legally entering the country). But in your example, it makes no sense at all. Maybe the guards just assume the people with visas, even if long-stay, will be forced to come back? 

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, slavaskii said:

There was one person on the bus who claimed that the dual-citizens get denied because there's fears they're "running" from something illegal in the country. Like an unpaid fine, for instance.

That makes sense. Yeah, these "stories at the border" should be taken with a grain of salt, because I'm just reporting what my SIL saw, and who knows, maybe those people had expired visas or did have some legit reason to be turned away. From my experience, I never knew anyone personally who ever had issues entering the Schengen zone as long as they had a good visa. But now, who knows! I do think there's mass hysteria and things are not being enforced properly.

 

2 hours ago, Lonny&Kris said:

If the administration actually did decide to allow Ukrainian refugees with family ties, would that cover spouses or k1 filer's for example? I'm admittedly not very educated when it comes to rules and regulations regarding refugees.

Also not an expert here but my guess is: if they can come on the K-1, it's probably better to do that and apply for an expedite. Since there's a legit path to the US, just go with that. It seems easier than trying to pursue the refugee route.

 

What the Biden admin is referring to, I assume, is a program for other relatives like siblings, cousins, nieces/nephews, etc. People who otherwise have no path to a visa (or a very, very long wait.) At this point in time, there are no refugee visas, so I believe your only choice is to wait out the expedite request. Keep checking here on VJ, check the news, and check the Embassy websites to see if something changes something changes.

 

Also, please fill in your timeline!

 

 

[Prizm123 1,086]

well this was something i addressed in my heated letter to the white house on the website. i am surprised i didnt get a call from the secret service with some of the language i used.