San Diego, California – On Monday, March 13, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that certain Ukranians who entered the U.S. at a land border shortly after Russia’s invasion, and were given permission to stay for one year, may be eligible to remain in the United States longer. This humanitarian parole extension will allow upwards 25,000 Ukrainians to live, work and remain with family in the United States.

Guerline Jozef, Co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Black Immigrants Bail Fund, and founding member of Cameroon Advocacy Network, issued the following statement:

“We welcome the announcement that humanitarian parole has been extended to Ukrainians and the Ukrainian community; no person or family should ever live in fear of being sent back to danger—and in some cases, death. We call on the administration to live up to its commitment to racial justice and ensure that this welcoming gesture is extended to countries that have also been ravaged by extreme violence, war, and poverty including Haiti, Cameroon, Nicaragua and Somalia, among others. America can and should be a nation that lives up to its moral compass and welcomes with dignity, not a country that forces those who have already lived the unthinkable—leaving everything they know and love behind—to face fear and uncertainty as they begin to rebuild their lives.”