WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — To help ease the refugee pressure on Eastern Europe, the U.S. government is looking to make it easier for Ukrainians to come to America.
The White House is sending signals it will drop the usual barriers that many immigrants encounter.
WPTV spoke with an expert to try and sort out how different rules apply to different people coming into Florida.
The flow of refugees out of Ukraine has been relentless since the war began three weeks ago.
Millions of people, mostly women and children, are pouring into neighboring European countries as the able-bodied men stay behind.
"It is difficult. I miss (my father) a lot, but he has a good reason," said Yulia Nesterenco, a Ukrainian American who lives in Palm Beach County.
Her father is still in Ukraine as the war grows more serious by the day.
Many Ukrainian families are anxious to get their relatives to South Florid, and now President Joe Biden's administration seems willing to pave the way for that to happen, looking to fast-track their immigration.
Richard Hujber, an immigration attorney in Boynton Beach, works with people fleeing bad situations in many countries.
But he said one case stands out.
"I have clients that come in and ask me, 'Why is a Cuban getting a green card in a year and a day without having to prove anything?'" Hujber said.
For decades Cubans fleeing the dictatorship have been welcomed with no questions asked. Now, as Ukrainians stand to gain that privilege, Hujber said it remains difficult for those fleeing other Latin and Caribbean nations.
"People from Venezuela, people from Colombia, they look at that and say, 'How is that there is a special program for just Cubans?" Hujber said asked. "Central Americans, they're escaping violence, crime, gangs, but it's difficult that Central Americans have to prove it has to do with your race or your religion or your political opinion."
Hujber said Haitians also have a hard time meeting the asylum requirements, but he said Ukrainians will likely get to settle here quickly, especially if there is family here waiting for them.
