After Trip To Ukraine Border, Lynch And Trahan Say Most Refugees Prefer To Stay In Europe
BOSTON (CBS) – The U.S. plans to welcome up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, but Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch doesn't think that many will come here.
Lynch and Congresswoman Lori Trahan were part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that just returned from a trip to Poland, Romania, and Moldova to see the conditions at the Ukrainian border.
Meeting with reporters in Boston Friday, they were asked about the refugee crisis there. Lynch said most want to stay in Ukraine or in a bordering country.
"Of those that wish to come to the U.S. and Canada almost all of them had family here," Lynch said. "Some of them consider it a point of pride staying in the country during this difficult time. I don't know if we'll get 100,000."
"One of the things that we learned while we were there is many people are staying close to home. They don't want to travel far from their home," Trahan said, adding that they're still waiting for details on the U.S. refugee plan.
It's not known yet what states they'll be headed to, but Governor Charlie Baker has said Massachusetts will welcome them.
The federal government has not contacted Baker's office yet about Ukrainian refugees, but the state took in 900 refugees from Afghanistan last year when 37,000 moved to the U.S.
