Biden administration plans to bring Ukrainian refugees to US

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Biden administration plans to bring Ukrainian refugees to US

The president made a plan to bring Ukrainian refugees to the U.S. on Thursday, which will include a plan to bring them to the US, as well as a plan for bringing them to the U.S.

A senior administration official who briefed reporters said the plan will require Ukrainians to have a sponsor in the U.S. who can attest to their ability to support them.

An online portal will open on April 25 to allow sponsors to upload documents as part of a process to ensure Ukrainians can be sponsored, but sponsors are not trying to exploit the Ukrainians they take in.

The affidavit will be vetted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and, if sponsors are approved, will begin the next steps, including providing vaccination documentation for the refugees.

Thousands of Ukrainians have been illegally crossing the Mexican border in hopes of claiming asylum once they reach U.S. soil. Without a legal option, crossing the border was the only realistic path for Ukrainians seeking safety in the U.S.

Some Ukrainians will be able to enter legally through airports and avoid a risky journey through Mexico and across the southern border.

The Biden administration maintains that most Ukrainians will want to return to their homes as soon as it is safe to do so, and that the U.S. does not need to provide the level of support to the war refugees as Poland has done.

Refugee advocates want the Biden administration to give them a legal pathway to the U.S. and to guarantee permanent legal status for those who come to the US. They have argued that humanitarian parole given to Afghans who fled the Taliban takeover last fall failed to provide them safety and job security in the U.S.