St. Louis is preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees. When that will happen is still unknown

President Joe Biden buoyed the hopes of people of diverse backgrounds and faiths when he announced earlier this spring that the United States would welcome 100,000 refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine, say members of St. Mary’s Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church in St. Louis. But reality hit when the daughter of parishioners, who had fled Ukraine for Austria, was denied a tourist visa that would have allowed her to join family in St. Louis. 

Saying he was saddened but not surprised given the United States’ cumbersome immigration system, St. Mary’s parishioner Yuriy Safronov observed, “There is a lot of bureaucracy. People were happy when they heard President Biden say that in March about welcoming 100,000 refugees. But no one knows when they’ll arrive.” Eugene Logusch, deacon and administrator of St. Mary’s, says only “a handful” of Ukrainian refugees have arrived in St. Louis since Russia attacked Ukraine in February and adds: “They had tourist visas in hand or came for medical treatment. The U.S. still hasn’t admitted refugees for temporary residence, unlike the European Union.”

As of April 12, the International Institute of St. Louis, which works with public and private sectors in assisting refugees, had not begun serving Ukrainian refugees, according to Arrey Obenson, its president and CEO. Nor has the International Institute received guidelines from the U.S. government regarding a program to welcome 100,000 refugees or how many refugees St. Louis could expect, Obenson says. He adds: “We are, however, making plans for the eventual arrivals of Ukrainian refugees. In the meantime, we have teamed up with Project HOPE, and asked our community donors to support ongoing relief efforts in the border countries to Ukraine.” 

St. Louis area residents of “many faiths” have donated money to relief efforts and said they’ll offer other support as well, including housing, employment, meals, and children’s toys, according to Logusch. Nick Dunne, public information officer for the City of St. Louis Mayor’s Office, said, in part, in an e-mailed statement: “St. Louis will always welcome those who want to build a better future for themselves and their families. Refugees, whether from Bosnia, Afghanistan, Ukraine, or anywhere across the globe strengthen our city and make it a more vibrant place for everyone. The city will continue to work alongside the experts at the International Institute of St. Louis, and we look forward to supporting their efforts as much as we can.”

The New York Times reported in March that White House officials said refugees from Ukraine would be received through “the full range of legal pathways, including the U.S’ refugee admissions programs, which leads to permanent residence, or a green card.” Other refugees, the newspaper reported, could be granted “humanitarian parole, a temporary form of entry offered to displaced people in wartime and other emergencies.”

David T. Cox, a St. Louis immigration lawyer, says he is representing a few, but not as many as he anticipated, area residents in quests to help Ukrainian family members be approved to enter the United States. Reasons for the lower than anticipated number of requests may include, Cox says, the length of time it takes to be approved for a U.S. visa and that other countries have expedited their approval processes for Ukrainian refugees. 

Among the options Cox says he is exploring with clients is immigration parole, described by the National Immigration Forum as “an available tool under the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows certain individuals to enter the U.S. and temporarily stay without an immigrant or non-immigrant visa.” The National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy group based  in Washington, D.C., says that though parole is used in emergency contexts, applicants undergo background and vetting checks, and that “it is not intended to be used as a way to circumvent other immigration pathways.” 

Some family members of St. Mary’s parishioners say they won’t leave Ukraine, even to go to a neighboring European country. One parishioner noted, for example, that her sister has said she won’t leave her husband and three adult-age sons. (The Ukrainian government forbids Ukrainian-born males between 18 and 60 from leaving the country.) Others, like Safronov’s 80-year-old mother, Agafiya, cite the stress and uncertainty involved in applying for visas and say Ukraine is their home.

Agafiya lives on the seventh floor of an apartment building in Lviv, in western Ukraine. Her family says they respect her decision to remain in Ukraine, but obviously still worry about the safety of her and other family members, including a 90-year-old uncle.  Asked if she knew where the closest bomb shelter was, Agafiya told Safronov and his wife, Tetiana, “I’m not taking anyone else’s spot. I’ve lived a long, happy life.”