The Ukraine Immigration Task Force is excited to announce the re-launch of its website to help Ukrainians fleeing war find trusted resources on U.S. immigration. The redesigned website is a collaboration with a team from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, which provided web design and development support to create the website announced today. The new design and platform make it easier to find guidance, webinars, and clarification on key immigration topics in multiple languages. The website also informs the legal community, policymakers, and the general public about safety risks and legal developments affecting Ukrainian immigration.
Founded in March 2022, the Ukraine Immigration Task Force is a volunteer coalition of over 100 attorneys, policy professionals, and members of nonprofit organizations. Its mission is to help displaced Ukrainians find safety and security in the United States by offering relevant and timely guidance to them, their U.S. supporters, legal practitioners, and organizations that assist them.
Over 14 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Millions more sit cold and helpless in the dark as a harsh winter approaches, with at least 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure destroyed by Russian missiles, along with much of the food and water supply. Unsurprisingly, numerous displaced Ukrainians have sought refuge in the United States to reunite with family, find some sense of normalcy, or just get away from unceasing bombs and occupation. Between February and April 2022, as many as 40,000 Ukrainians arrived in the U.S. – many with no contacts or support network – through a combination of tourist visas, student visas and humanitarian parole. In the months that followed, almost 75,000 people arrived through a newly implemented pilot program called “Uniting for Ukraine,” which functions as a large-scale humanitarian parole pathway using private sponsorship by U.S. residents.
From the beginning of the war, the legal community rallied to assist those affected by the war, both inside and outside of Ukraine. As early as February, volunteer immigration attorneys began providing pro bono assistance to Ukrainians and their families in the United States. As U.S. immigration procedures adapted to face the growing crisis, attorneys raced to keep up with the rapidly evolving regulatory changes and communicate them to the public through various digital forums.
Responding to the need for reliable information in multiple languages, attorneys from the Ukraine Immigration Task Force, with the help of volunteer interpreters, drafted a comprehensive resource document in April 2022 informing Ukrainians fleeing war about various entry options into the United States. The document grew into over 80 pages of guidance in English, Ukrainian, and Russian that is now accessible both as a web page and a regularly updated Google document that can be shared. The resource document covers a broad range of immigration topics including Refugee Admission and Asylum Protection, Humanitarian Parole and the “Uniting for Ukraine” Program, Immigration Benefits, Employment Authorization, Pre-Travel Requirements, Entry and Inspection Procedures, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Non-Immigrant Visas, Immigrant Visas and Permanent Residence. The website also features pertinent immigration news, upcoming events, educational videos, and current advocacy goals.
In addition to offering guidance on U.S. immigration, the Task Force conducts outreach to raise awareness about such issues as human trafficking, abusive hosts or sponsors, exploitation, and tips for traveling with children. The Task Force also partners with refugee assistance groups and social service organizations to help newly arriving Ukrainians apply for benefits, find housing, look for jobs, and find local support. Finally, the Task Force engages in multiple advocacy campaigns to address malfunctions in immigration processes and bring about needed reforms to the most pressing issues facing Ukrainians seeking safety in the United States.
To see the new website and learn more about the Ukraine Immigration Task Force, visit https://ukrainetaskforce.org/ or email [email protected].