The Biden administration has expanded eligibility for a programme that allows Ukrainians who have been living in the United States without legal documentation to temporarily stay and work in the country, moving up the cut-off date for eligibility by six weeks.
The move will roughly double the number of people who can apply, according to a notice filed by the department of homeland security.
The notice said that Ukrainians who have been in the country since April 11th or earlier may apply for the humanitarian designation, known as temporary protected status.
The Biden administration has pledged to take in 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
US officials had previously set the cut-off date for eligibility at March 1st, less than a week after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th.
Roughly 60,000 Ukrainians will be eligible to apply for the designation, according to Citizenship and Immigration Services, the US agency in charge of the programme.
Customs and Border Protection said it detained more than 5,000 Ukrainian migrants in March, all of whom would be eligible for temporary protected status if they were released into the US.
The vast majority of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion will not qualify for the designation. The United Nations estimates that nearly five million Ukrainians have already fled their country as refugees.
About 30,000 Ukrainians were estimated to be eligible under the original March 1st deadline. The expansion of the programme to accommodate more Ukrainian refugees follows delays in setting up a legal pipeline for migrants to travel directly to the US.
Mexico does not require entry visas, so refugees have instead flown to Mexico so that they may apply for admission on humanitarian grounds at the US border, where thousands have been lining up.
US Customs and Border Protection reported more than 5,000 encounters with Ukrainians last month, mostly along the southwestern border. The figure is almost five times as many as tallied in previous months.
Citizenship and Immigration Services stressed that Ukrainian migrants at the border would not be able to apply for the designation and discouraged them from attempting to enter the US without authorisation.
“Ukrainian nationals currently outside the United States are not eligible for TPS under this designation,” the statement said. “And they will not become eligible by relocating to the United States in the coming weeks. Ukrainians are encouraged instead to apply for a visa or other legal pathway at a US consulate abroad.” – New York Times.