SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ukrainians are arriving in Sacramento as they escape the war Russia is waging on their country, in part because the greater Sacramento area has one of the largest Slavic populations in the U.S.
However, many Ukrainians arriving here are not allowed to work, despite the federal government welcoming them into the country.
That’s because many of them are getting something called parole status — instead of refugee status.
As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services explains, “individuals who are outside of the United States may be able to request parole into the United States based on urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit reasons.”
Vlad Skots is chairman of the local non-profit Ukrainian American House and said while parole status is allowing Ukrainians to stay temporarily in the U.S., it is less comprehensive than refugee status.
Under parole status, for example, it is difficult for someone to secure a work permit, whereas “if you entered the United States as a refugee, you are authorized employment as part of your refugee status,” according to the federal government.
RELATED: GoFundMe reactivates a Sacramento non-profit's fundraiser for a Ukrainian children's hospital
People granted parole status “cannot work here. Yes, they can apply for the work permit, but – as of today – it’ll take probably 6+ months,” Skots explained. “It’s big issue for those people because they came here in California, where it expensive place to live…And those people, they want to work, and in our network, we have many businesses that desperate, even, to hire those people – they can’t.”
There’s an expedited application for a work permit, Skots said, but it’s expensive and “still no guarantee when and how you would get the work permit."
He shared a video shot by his friend down at the border in Tijuana, where he said volunteers are sheltering and feeding some 500 Ukrainians per day. Most if not all of those immigrants, Skots said, are being given parole status.
Skots said he has reached out to Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-CA) office, among other federal leaders, to ask them to do something. He isn’t the only one fighting for changes to how the federal government is currently allowing Ukrainians into the U.S.
Dozens of members of Congress signed a joint letter to President Biden last week, urging the administration to do more for Ukrainians fleeing their country.
In a statement to ABC10, California Democratic Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) – who signed the letter - said:
“I believe the United States should be doing everything in its power to admit Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s war against their country under refugee status rather than the less comprehensive parole status. I have joined dozens of my colleagues in Congress in pushing for the United States government to use every power bestowed to it to admit Ukrainian refugees and give them the peace, comfort, and opportunity they deserve.”
Other members of Californias' Congressional delegation signed the letter as well, including Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), Linda Sánchez (D-Whittier) and Juan Vargas (D-San Diego).
“Definitely, we need some better system in place,” Skots agreed. “How to onboard those people so they can work and bring money for themself, even for the state.”
One such Ukrainian who would like the opportunity to work is 24-year-old Daria Speranska. She fled Ukraine with her 16-year-old sister Sonia after they and their family watched Russian troops take over the village where they were staying outside of Kyiv in early March.
“It was very hard to be there because we didn’t know when the war will be ended, what are we going to do,” Daria recalled. “We just looking out the window, seeing that Russian military every day. It was very scary.”
The sisters’ parents and other family members remain in Kyiv.
“If everything goes okay, I want to go back to Kyiv,” Sonia said. “I need my family, my friends, my studying, my lands. I just miss it so much.”
Their escape took them from Ukraine to Poland to France to Spain to Mexico and finally to the U.S., where they crossed the southern border into California from Tijuana — and arrived in Sacramento last week. Both sisters were allowed into the U.S. under parole status.
The sisters say they are grateful to all of the people and volunteers who have shown them kindness and compassion along their journey as they escaped Ukraine. They keep in touch with their parents daily and hope to reunite with them one day soon.
