Paradigm Shift In Thinking Needed To Address New Immigration Challenges Worldwide

For eight years now, Putin has pursued his version of “peace” in Ukraine, piece by piece. Like a crocodile, Putin’s Russia has devoured Crimea, snapped up Luhansk and Donetsk and now is chomping on the rest of Ukraine, while eyeing NATO supplies headed eastward as his next quarry. The results have been catastrophic.

10 Million Ukrainians Displaced

Today, over 3.3 million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine, while over 6.5 million have been displaced within the country itself. To deal with this exodus of humanity, Poland has accepted almost 2 million Ukrainian refugees, Romania about 500,000, Moldova 350,000, while other countries, like Hungary and Slovakia, have shouldered their share. As many as 10 million Ukrainians could flee Russia’s war on Ukraine. Not since the end of World War II have there been so many displaced persons in Europe.

America’s Response So Far

So far, Europe has had to bear the brunt of the refugee crisis – particularly countries bordering Ukraine like Poland. All America has done is to offer Ukrainians currently in America Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. That protects some 75,000 Ukrainians in the U.S. from deportation and enables them to apply for work permits. But it does not address the immediate and urgent ballooning Ukrainian problem in Europe. American inaction in the face of this overwhelming burden overseas, if continued, could pose a serious threat to unity in NATO.

Possible U.S. Responses

An immediate partial solution to the problem would be for America and other allied countries to resolve to accept a number of immigrants, based on their connections to family members here who are willing to support them on their arrival. For example, in the case of the USA, the goal of 75,000 Ukrainians would be roughly equal to the number of refugees from Afghanistan that have been targeted recently. Processing should be undertaken overseas by American and other country immigration officers sent there to clear the applicants by establishing their connections to family, and screening for medical, police and security purposes. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and other countries could adopt similar goals and procedures.

Another way America could help would be to drop the visa requirement for Ukrainians to enter the USA as visitors for an interim period – say two years. Applicants could be screened using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) pre-travel online program which clears out visitors with criminal, immigration or medical problems. To address some possible immediate objections that could be raised, consider that in the absence of financial support, most such would-be applicant visitors will not have the resources to travel to the U.S. so the risk of a flood of refugees is minimal. In addition, men ages 18-60 are not being allowed to leave Ukraine, virtually without exception, since martial law has been invoked and they are required to enlist for service in defence of the country. That means that most arrivals to the USA would be women and children and therefore of low security risk. Even then, many will come by virtue of support from Americans who will help them with their cost of travel and accommodations while here. America should also follow the lead of some other countries, such as Canada and Germany, offering such Ukrainian migrants the opportunity of a temporary open work permit after arrival and be willing to extend such stays until things settle in Europe.

America’s Long Term Response

As for a long term solution to the problem of Ukrainian displaced persons in Europe today, and indeed the problem of other displaced persons as well, it is worthwhile to consider what Allied countries did at the end of World War II to deal with the humanitarian crisis then.

After repatriating at least 40 million people that had been displaced back to the countries of their citizenship, there still remained some 7 to 11 million displaced persons (DPs) living in countries like Germany, Austria and Italy with no place to go. To help some of these people come to the United States, President Truman asked Congress to enact the Displaced Persons Act in 1948. Over the next four years about 450,000 displaced persons immigrated to America. To qualify, they had to have a sponsor and a place to live on their arrival, work in a job that would not displace American workers or have a relative that was an American citizen that would support them. In addition, voluntary social service agencies, created by religious and ethnic groups, helped the refugees settle into American life. Similar programs were adopted in many other countries to help settle the remaining displaced persons worldwide.

What was so exceptional about this program was the way it was handled. The criteria was whether the persons concerned were uprooted from their homes, and whether someone could be found to sponsor them to immigrate. The matching of the immigrants to sponsors was, very often, based on the initiatives of the immigrants or sponsors themselves. They would write to relatives or friends overseas asking them for help. While the policy had to be enacted by governments, the mechanics were left up to the individuals themselves. All that was needed was an affidavit of support sworn by the sponsor and an agreement to come on the part of the migrant. Based on reviewing their papers and their criminal and medical histories, officials cleared the immigrants before they came to America.

International Implementation

Such a program, outlined in more detail here, here, here and here, would need to be implemented internationally. The program, if implemented by countries such as those in the EU, North and South America, and places like Australia and New Zealand, would help address not only the Ukrainian problem, but also the plight of millions of other displaced persons, including those from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. A key to its success would be thorough screenings of all applicants for both medical, police and security reasons.

An Opportunity Unlike Any Before

They say there is a silver lining in every cloud. The Ukrainian humanitarian crisis presents the world with an opportunity unlike any before it, to adopt an international solution to an international problem long in the making. It presents a way to address the needs of millions of Americans with family members and friends elsewhere who could be brought to the U.S. as displaced persons in pursuit of family reunification. Such a solution is today’s best chance of humanely responding to an impossible problem and resolve it in the fairest way possible. It is up to us to change our outdated approach to displaced persons that has not worked for decades to arrive at a modern way to effectively deal with what otherwise will remain an intractable problem.