(NewsNation Now) — The Biden administration has said it will accept Ukrainian refugees who have family living in the U.S., where nearly 700 Ukrainian refugees have been admitted since last October.
The U.S. has vowed to open its borders to as many as 100,000 people who have been displaced or forced to flee Ukraine as a result of Russia’s war. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were more than 1 million people of Ukrainian descent living in the U.S. as of 2019.
The majority lived in the following areas:
- Greater metropolitan New York — more than 135,000 people
- Philadelphia — more than 58,000 people
- Chicago area — more than 53,000 people
In fact, as of 2019, 15% of all refugees to the U.S. were from Ukraine, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A total 692 Ukrainian refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since October of last year alone.
Those who have familial ties are generally connected with family while others are connected with agencies that help refugees secure work and housing.
In the first two weeks after Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, about 2.5 million people in Ukraine’s pre-war population of 44 million left the country to avoid the bombs and bloodshed. In the second two weeks, the number of refugees was roughly half that.
The total exodus now stands at 3.87 million, according to the latest tally announced Monday from UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, which includes figures up through Sunday.