US to take in up to 100K Ukrainian refugees, sanction more Russian officials, defense companies

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The U.S. will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians and others seeking to escape from Russia's invasion, and will impose new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies, the White House said.

According to senior administration officials, the Biden administration is looking into multiple methods for those fleeing Ukraine to enter the U.S., including the refugee admissions program, as well as parole and immigrant and non-immigrant visas.

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The officials said that President Biden's cap of 125,000 refugees for Fiscal Year 2022 remains in effect, but that those who enter via processes other than the refugee program will not count toward that total. 

People arrive at a help center organized by volunteers, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bydgoszcz, Poland, March 10, 2022.  (Roman Bosiacki/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS )

"We don't currently envision the need to go beyond that in terms of the portion of the individuals that would come in as refugees during this fiscal year," they said.

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Officials also announced that the U.S. will be imposing sanctions on the Russian elite group known as the Duma and 300 of its members, as well as more than 40 Russian defense companies. As a backup measure, the European Union will also be imposing a sanctions evasion initiative to keep Russia from getting around the new U.S. sanctions. The EU initiative includes closing loopholes like the Russian Central Bank propping up their currency, and utilizing a coalition of countries to keep Russia from acquiring new technologies or from having other banks do business for them.

"In all cases we'll use this initiative to share information, and coordinate our responses to prevent the emergence of any safe haven for Russia, whether it's in China or any other country," the officials said. "Our purpose now is to fully disarm its war chest by making sure its foreign reserves serve no purpose in propping up the Russian currency."

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The officials said that G7 countries "will join together" in telling international organizations not to continue dealing with Russia as they have been. 

"Our purpose here is to methodically remove the benefits and privileges Russia once enjoyed as a participant in the international economic order," they said.