US looks to resettle more Ukrainian refugees: reports

The United States is reportedly looking to resettle more Ukrainian refugees, including those with ties to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, as Russia’s invasion extends into its fourth week.

Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters the Biden administration is planning to launch an initiative that would allow more refugees to come to the U.S., with one person telling the news outlet it would entail delegating more people toward handling temporary “humanitarian parole” applications and streamlining processing visas for those who have U.S. citizen and permanent resident relatives.

Internal data from the State Department that was seen by Reuters showed that seven Ukrainian refugees settled in the U.S. between March 1 and March 16. In January and February, 514 refugees were admitted to the country.

The sources told Reuters that journalists, members of the LGBTQ community and activists are among those officials are looking to focus on.

Reuters reached out to the White House, which referred the news outlet to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A request for comment was not returned by DHS to Reuters.

The Hill reached out to the State Department for comment, and a spokesperson referred The Hill to the White House.

The White House referred The Hill to comments made by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday, in which he said that President Biden “will announce further American contributions to a coordinated humanitarian response to ease the suffering of civilians inside Ukraine and to respond to the growing flow of refugees.”

The White House also pointed to comments made by White House press secretary Jen Psaki from earlier this week in which she said that the U.S. was looking into possible placements of Ukrainian refugees in the country should they not be able to stay in Europe.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price indicated during a briefing on Tuesday that officials were looking into how to assist in family reunifications with Ukrainian refugees, the news wire noted. 

The development comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth week, has led to an exodus of more than 3.5 million people from Ukraine. The conflict has been widely condemned by the international community and has led governments and businesses to take steps to isolate Russia economically.

The Hill has reached out to the DHS for comment.

Updated at 5:15 p.m.