The United States is going to welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
On Thursday, a senior official from Joe Biden‘s administration announced that it would be helping out 100,000 Ukrainians who are fleeing Russia’s unprovoked invasion by welcoming them into the U.S. According to the U.N. refugee agency data, more than 3.5 million Ukrainians fled Ukraine, CNN reports. To service the refugees, the U.S. is developing a refugee admissions program.
“To meet this commitment, we are considering the full range of legal pathways to the United States,” said the official. CNN reports that the program would also provide refugees with parole and immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
The official referred to the move as a long-term commitment, as the White House won’t have to request an expansion of the current limit of how many refugees the country can bring in a year. The number is set at 125,000 for the fiscal year 2022, CNN Politics reports.
“We still have a significant capacity within the 125,000 so we don’t currently envision the need to go beyond that,” the official said. The official added that it will also be working on a plan that will “focus on welcoming Ukrainians who have family members in the United States.”
“By opening our country to these individuals, we will help relieve some of the pressure on the European host countries that are currently shouldering so much of the responsibility,” said the official.
