Some of the 100,000 Ukrainian evacuees expected to settle in Erie. Here's what we know

Nandu Subedi has fielded calls from Ukrainians living in Erie. They want their loved ones to escape their war-torn country and resettle here.

Subedi, the director of the refugee resettlement program for Catholic Charities of Erie, shares their hope. Catholic Charities and Erie's other refugee resettlement agency, the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants, anticipate being part of efforts to resettle as many as 100,000 Ukrainian evacuees throughout the U.S. this year.

"We expressed interest to our national office, but there is no clear guideline from the government about when this process will begin and when we can expect to start resettling these refugees," Subedi said.

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"We're monitoring the situation closely and we're in constant conversation with the State Department," said Dylanna Grasinger, executive director of the USCRI's Erie field office. "But at this point, we don't have a sense of how Ukrainians will travel. And so it's hard to have capacity conversations when we're not quite clear on timelines or actual numbers that will come through."

Process could take years

It can take years for a refugee to be resettled in the United States under the country's standard resettlement procedures. However, emergency programs, like the one implemented for Afghans escaping the Taliban regime last summer, can be carried out in months. Erie has resettled more than 460 Afghans over the past six months.

President Joe Biden announced in late March that the U.S. will take in as many as 100,000 Ukrainians, but resettlement agencies are awaiting word on how the humanitarian relief program will be carried out. Some 4.4 million Ukrainians have evacuated to other European countries since the Russian invasion began.

"Erie is a great place and it has a significant group of Ukrainians who've already been living here," Subedi said. "I've been getting calls from families and friends regarding their loved ones who are in trouble there. It's a positive aspect that the Erie community is welcoming. It's considered one of the good sites in Pennsylvania for Ukrainians to get resettled."

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Many Ukrainians at the southern U.S. border

The USCRI's AnnaMarie Bena, vice president of the agency, is being accompanied by an Erie resident from Ukraine on a trip to Tijuana, Mexico, on the westernmost southern border with the U.S. Some 2,000 Ukrainians have been transported there, Grasinger said.

"They were able to leave Ukraine, make it to the southern border of the United States," Grasinger said. "There's roughly 1,000 individuals, mostly women, who are there looking to reconnect with family here, but we're not clear on what that means, like what are the next steps?"

Citing internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data, CBS News reported on April 11 that nearly 10,000 undocumented Ukrainians, who have fled to Mexico in hopes of requesting refugee status in the U.S., have been processed by U.S. border officials in the past two months. It is unclear how many of the 10,000 Ukrainians have been granted entrance.

The report, citing a person with direct knowledge of the internal data, said most of the Ukrainians have sought to enter at official ports of entry rather than crossing the border illegally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that 41,074 Ukrainians entered the U.S. legally between Feb. 1 and April 6. Their permission to enter legally can include visas awarded to short-term travelers, or immigrants who are permitted to live in the U.S. permanently, CBS reported.

Erie's challenges: housing

The toughest challenge for Erie's refugee resettlement agencies will be finding housing for the new arrivals when they get here, both Subedi and Grasinger said.

"The community is very welcoming here," Subedi said. "They would love to see more Ukrainians resettle here and get help. We have resources, but the housing market is real tight right now.

"With the first phase of Afghan refugees, we didn't have to put anybody up in a hotel," he continued. "We had great success in placing them in permanent housing upon arrival. We would like to continue doing that with the remaining Afghanis and the new community from Ukraine."

"The challenge will continue to be housing," Grasinger added, "just making sure that affordable, safe housing is available. We have a great group of landlords that we've been working with, but housing still remains in short supply. We need more landlords who are willing to work with us and our mission."

Contact Matthew Rink at mrink@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNrink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Ukrainian refugees in Erie: Officials expect them to resettle here