Biden to allow U.S. families to sponsor Ukrainians

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a program designed to discourage refugees from entering the country across the Mexican border. Ukrainians who want to participate in the program must have a sponsor in the U.S., be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and pass background checks. After this, they may apply for a two-year temporary protected status. Sponsors could be families or nongovernmental organizations. 

What does this change? The program is meant to ease volume at the Mexico border, where Border Patrol agents will no longer automatically grant entry to Ukrainian asylum-seekers. The U.S. expects to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. Roughly 15,000 have arrived since Russia invaded their home country in February, mostly through Mexico.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Michaelian’s report in Compassion about a young Ukrainian couple’s journey to the U.S. under humanitarian parole.