Navigating U4U
Connecticut's largest resettlement agency, IRIS, is steering its way through uncharted territory as the Uniting for Ukraine Program welcomes thousands into the New York Metropolitan area.
Between 1980 and 2015, nearly 2.9 million refugees were resettled in the United States under the Refugee Act. During this time, the private sector maintained a sizable role in providing support for refugees to supplement government programs.
​
The Uniting for Ukraine Program, which was launched in April, has completely revamped the role of the private sector in aiding refugees.
It is the largest sponsorship-based humanitarian parole in decades, and the largest of its kind to recruit private citizens to sponsor refugees in their communities, as opposed to sponsorship through resettlement agencies. The program also invites US residents to sponsor refugees that are not of any familial relation; across the country, people have been signing up to financially support - and even host - complete strangers.
​
As of October 6, roughly 65,000 Ukrainian nationals have entered through the U4U program, according to Church World Services.
​
Resettlement organizations in Connecticut are not aware of how many parolees have entered the state through Uniting for Ukraine thus far. Records for Uniting for Ukraine sponsorship are not in purview of the US Department of Homeland Security, according to the National Records Center. ​
​
Under U4U, refugees are granted humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis. They are matched up with a sponsor who will provide financial support for their beneficiary, based on the sponsor's completion of an I-134 Form / Declaration of Financial Support.
​
U4U beneficiaries will be eligible for this program if they have a valid Ukrainian passport, complete the necessary health and vaccination requirements for travel to the US, and submit to the collection of biometrics and security checks by the US government.
​
Sponsors must be in lawful status and complete a background and security check. In addition, sponsor applicants must demonstrate financial stability, with the capacity to “receive, maintain, and support” the Ukrainian beneficiaries they are paired up with, through completion of an I-134 form.
​
Thus far, sponsors who do not maintain this financial support for their beneficiaries have not been penalized.
​
“There is no legal obligation [for the sponsor] to submit money,” said Kathy Sheppard, Ukrainian Program Manager at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services. “As far as we know, the government isn’t asking sponsors to report when someone arrived, when they got their work authorization and benefits, and if they’re financially safe.”
​
Susan Helms, who became a host to a family of five through Uniting for Ukraine in August, is most worried that this program permits private sponsorship by those who have no familial relation to the beneficiary.
​
"There's a lot of potential for abuse in this program," said Helms. "There are now websites and Facebook pages [to find a sponsor]...There's this young pretty mother and she’s got two pretty little daughters, and she's looking for a stranger to sponsor her."
​
Connecticut's Department of Social Services and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have not responded to requests for comment.
​
Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, or IRIS, is the largest resettlement agency in Connecticut, with extensive resources and partnerships throughout the state. Staff of IRIS's Ukrainian Program, which was established in August, are navigating an influx of Ukrainian clients struggling to find housing and resources.
​
Serhii Skrypniuk, settled in Milford, CT, through U4U sponsorship in August and began working for IRIS's Ukrainian Program as an interpreter on October 24. He moved out of his host’s residence within the first month of being in the U.S. because, he said, "the sponsorship was too much for her." Now, as he assists other Ukrainian nationals and their sponsors, he hears of experiences that reflect is own.
​
“People don't really know what to expect from any foreign person living in your house, especially if they don't speak any English, [like] how much it actually takes to assist them with getting benefits or just helping them fit into life in this country,” said Skrypniuk. “And there is no follow up liability, no one to ensure they fulfill their sponsor role.”​
​
Lobby at IRIS in New Haven, Connecticut, November 30, 2022
Street view of IRIS offices in New Haven, Connecticut, November 30, 2022
Overview of Form I-134 Declaration of Financial Support from USCIS
Joseph Doran and Kathy Sheppard in the office of the IRIS Ukrainian Program, November 30, 2022
Serhii Skrypniuk and his partner, Diana, who both came to the US through Uniting for Ukraine. Image courtesy of Serhii Skrypniuk.
Refugee Cash Assistance is available for Ukrainian parolees who need immediate funding to meet basic needs, such as food, shelter, and transportation. There are also grant programs and other benefits available for Ukrainians who were granted humanitarian parole after February 24.
​
“There is emergency funding for situations where there either is no sponsor, or the sponsor has abdicated responsibility,” said Sheppard’s co-manager, John Doran. "But the funding is very limited and only for short term aid."
​
As the U4U program enters its seventh month, IRIS staff members continue to develop their Ukrainian Program and expand their network as best as they can. They have accumulated a list of resources to aid incoming Ukrainians and are trying to find ways to locate new U4U entrants once they've settled in Connecticut. They are also attempting to hire case managers, employment specialists, and more interpreters for the new program.
​​
They said that they have received federal aid to staff the Ukrainian Program, but have a difficulty reaching DSS for any information to further organize their systems or expand their resources.
“It’s expected that there will be better infrastructure developed with time, but there is no certainty of that,” said Skrypniuk. “So we’ll just have to work with what we've got.”
