Biden’s Empty Promise Leaves Ukrainian Refugees in the Cold

Biden’s Empty Promise Leaves Ukrainian Refugees in the Cold
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian refugees during a visit to PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, March 26, 2022 (AP photo by Evan Vucci).

Two weeks ago, the White House announced that the United States would open its doors to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. To many observers, this was the very least the U.S. could do to protect civilians from a war characterized by displacement, atrocity and siege, and on which the West has largely decided to sit it out. But there are several enormous problems with Biden’s refugee relief plan.

The first is that there is no actual plan. The announcement was made in a fact-sheet that has not yet been backed by an Executive Order. In fact, the homepage of the U.S. Embassy in Hungary has not updated its information for Ukrainians since March 10. It currently refers them to information on seeking asylum in Hungary—a move that, if followed, would foreclose them from ever seeking asylum elsewhere—but provides no pathway for them to seek asylum in the U.S.

To ask for asylum in the U.S., the current policy is that a refugee must first get to U.S. territory. But the U.S. continues to prohibit Ukrainians from entering the country without a visa, which entails an extended application process. The U.S. has a visa waiver program for individuals fleeing some war-torn countries, but, incredibly, it has not yet added Ukraine to that list.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review