New York City, New Jersey poised to welcome Ukrainian refugees
NEW YORK - President Joe Biden announced Thursday the United States will welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
As CBS2's Lisa Rozner reports, Thursday afternoon the governor of New Jersey and the mayor of New York City affirmed they are ready with resources to help.
A furnished apartment on the Upper West Side is now a safe have for a woman who fled the war in Ukraine, and reunited with her daughter here.
It was arranged by rental company June Homes, which renovates and furnishes apartments. Ukrainian-born founder Dan Mishin explains how he wants to help refugees.
"We provide them with free housing for the first 90 days," Mishin said. "We want to go to New York City landlords, and other landlords, and activate them."
Mishin hopes to work with more landlords after Thursday's announcement by Biden.
"We also will welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to the United States, with a focus of reuniting families," Biden said.
The initiative will speed up visa processing for relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and assign more staff to handle applications for a temporary status known as "humanitarian parole."
"If you have a humanitarian crisis, right, you are able to apply. If you are otherwise not admissible, this would actually make you admissible. And through that path - a very short, limited visa - you would be able to enter the U.S. and work for the one year period," said attorney Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge.
Ukraine's Consul General to New York Oleksii Holubov says he's already working with authorities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
"Preparations are already underway," Holubov said.
Tech companies like New York City-based Monday.com will also help. In a Monday.com video, they say "employees are currently handling workflow logistics for volunteers and supplies for refugees in Moldova, at sites managed by humanitarian organization IsraAID."
"Like, if people need transportation. So these are the 10 available people on this area in this time,' said Chen Raviv of Monday.com.
"It saves billions of dollars. It saves thousands of hours," said Yotam Polizer, CEO of IsraAID. "We are setting up safe spaces for mothers and children who are extremely traumatized."
And if any of these refugees want to immigrate from a neighboring European country to the U.S., both organizations say they can support the resettlement process.
Immigration attorneys are waiting for details on the special conditions Biden announced for Ukrainian refugees, but one expert told Rozner the first refugees could be arriving in a matter of weeks.
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