With the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian immigrants in the US continue facing an uncertain future away from home. More than seven thousand Ukrainians are temporarily calling Syracuse home. But how do they get here?
Transcript
POLINA SHEMANOVA: 22-year-old Eduard Gusak expected to be in college in Ukraine, but instead he’s here at Syracuse University. One of nearly 800 Ukrainians living in Central New York because of a unique sponsoring program that Biden administration created in the months after the war began.
EDUARD GUSAK: Here, I’m on special type of visa which name is “Uniting for Ukraine”. I should live with my sponsor…
SHEMANOVA: U for U, as it’s informally called, is not affiliated with the more well-known programs that work with asylum seekers like Catholic Charities and Interfaith Works. U for U program allows Ukrainians in under the humanitarian parole. As the US Department of Homeland Security website explains, the main criteria of U for U program is “a supporter in the United States who agrees to provide them with financial support for the duration of their stay in the United States.”
GUSAK: And my sponsor was Gennady Bratslavsky, I would like to mention and say one more time thank you for him.
SHEMANOVA: Gennady Bratslavsky, a surgeon and chair of the urology department at Upstate Hospital. Along with his wife, Katya Bratslavsky who sells her art and donates 100% of her profit to Ukraine. While they wanted to help families and friends back in Ukraine, they were unsure how to.
KATYA BRATSLAVSKY: It was a new program that maybe not too many people knew about it, but again, thanks god, we got a very knowledgeable person who knew all the ways how to help Ukrainian refugees. It took just a few weeks, and then it was just a matter of buying them tickets…
SHEMANOVA: In Eduard’s case, Bratslavsky family was the one who helped him get his visa through “Uniting for Ukraine” program. Katya and Gennady Bratslavsky are doing everything they can to support Ukraine. They are currently hosting three young Ukrainians besides their own three children. And for Eduard Gusak, U for U program gives him a chance to help his country when the war is over.
GUSAK: The main reason to move from Ukraine is not a war for me, it’s the opportunity to serve my country as a professional after the education in Maxwell School, after the education in the United States.
SHEMANOVA: In Syracuse, I’m Polina Shemanova, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — On April 21, 2022, President Joe Biden announced a program called “Uniting for Ukraine” (also referred to as U for U) that allows Ukrainians to move to the United States for up to two years.
“U for U” works differently than other immigration programs in that it allows Ukrainians in the country under something called humanitarian parole. In this case, parole is an emergency deemed by the government such that some of the usual rules are suspended; and importantly, an American family must agree to sponsor a specific Ukrainian immigrant – and not necessarily someone from their family.
Gennady Bratslavsky, a physician at the Upstate University Hospital, sponsors three students from Ukraine. His wife, Katya Bratslavsky, said “U for U” was a hidden gem as an opportunity for these students to study in the United States and get ready for the professional world.
“It was a new program that maybe not too many people knew about,” said Katya Bratslavsky. “Thank God, we got a very knowledgeable person who knew all the ways how to help Ukrainian refugees. It took just a few weeks, and then it was just a matter of buying them tickets…”
Eduard Gusak is one of the students the Bratslavskys are sponsoring. Gusak is studying at Syracuse University while he is in Central New York. He says his main reason for moving to the United States was not the war, but the opportunity to learn and grow as a professional in the industry. By pursuing master’s degree in Public Administration at Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Gusak wants to bring knowledge back to Ukraine to strengthen his homeland.
“People who moved abroad after the war started, in my opinion, they are not refugees,” Gusak said. “They are people who were forced to move from their country and not necessarily begin a new life but rather continue their lives but with new perspectives. But they are still Ukrainians and they do whatever they can to support their home country.”
Today, both Gennady Bratslavsky and Eduard Gusak are working on their non-for-profit foundation called “Ukraine 1991”. If you would love to help Ukraine, you can find all the information on their website.