Amid the "war and senseless violence" in Ukraine, "we will continue to offer our assistance and protection to Ukrainians in the United States," Internal Security Minister Alejandro Mayorcas assured in a press release issued by his office.
"We condemn" the attack ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, he added in a video uploaded to social networking sites, declaring himself "proud" that Washington offers such protection.
The measure, effective for 18 months, applies to Ukrainians who arrived in the US before March 1, thus not those who left in the last week to escape the fighting.
US authorities did not specify what number of people are affected. According to US media reports, some 4,000 Ukrainian citizens in the US illegally faced the threat of deportation yesterday, while some 30,000 others were at risk of seeing their student or tourist visas expire.
Many members of the US Congress were asking Joe Biden's administration to offer them protection. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer welcomed the administration's announcement, noting that "the U.S. stands with the Ukrainian people" via Twitter.
Washington's decision, however, is more limited in scope than that of the 27 EU member states, which unanimously decided yesterday, Thursday, to offer "temporary protection" to refugees who have fled Ukraine to escape the war, whether citizens or long-term residents. They will be offered a residence permit in EU member states for one year, renewable, work permits, access to education and health systems.
Source: KYPE
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