Washington: By renewing their humanitarian status, Ukrainian immigrants who entered the country last year at the Mexico border will be able to continue receiving government benefits such as health insurance and food stamps.

The extension is a victory for advocates who pressed US President Joe Biden's administration to broaden legal avenues for thousands of immigrants who have recently been granted temporary emergency entry into the country.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), nearly 25,000 Ukrainians who fled conflict in their country and sought asylum in the US via Mexico in early 2022 are now eligible for one-year visas before extending their stay. are capable of what was initially provided to them. Because they had few other options for entering the United States, many reached the US–Mexico border.

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Under pressure to accept more refugees, Biden launched the "Uniting for Ukraine" program last April to allow Ukrainians with US sponsors to enter the country by air and across the border.

According to the DHS, more than 118,000 Ukrainians have entered the country through that program, having received two-year grants of "humanitarian parole" that will not expire until 2024 or later.

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Immigrant advocates are hoping to get a similar extension for the 77,000 or so Afghans entering the country in 2021 as a result of the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Later this year, humanitarian parole for many Afghans could expire.

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A similar extension should be given to Afghans, said Meredith Owen, director of policy and advocacy at Church World Service, a refugee resettlement organization. She referred to it as "long overdue".