The International Institute of New England (IINE) welcomes the encouraging news that the Biden administration is planning to admit up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine to the United States. Together with our partners in communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, we stand ready to support Ukrainians fleeing the invasion and to welcome and support them as they reunite with family living in New England or join our communities without any personal connections. We encourage the White House to offer Ukrainians Priority-2 designation so that they will be able to permanently resettle in the United States after enduring the devastation of their country, families, and futures.
An estimated 3.6 million Ukrainian refugees have already fled Ukraine to seek protection in border states and beyond, and there are an estimated 6.5 million internally displaced Ukrainians still in the country. The U.S. has made a critical decision to open a pathway of lifesaving protection for 100,000 Ukrainians; IINE is proud to be a part of our country’s domestic response. At IINE, we are preparing to welcome Ukrainian men, women, and children.
IINE has resettled more than 543 individuals in the past six months, of which 488 are Afghan evacuees. We continue to respond to the call to provide local humanitarian response to some of the world’s most vulnerable people caught by war, violence, and persecution.
We applaud the Massachusetts legislature for their public statements encouraging the federal government to provide safe haven to Ukrainian refugees and for their decision to allocate $10 million in new funding for refugees arriving in the Commonwealth, including those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
