Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. will begin losing legal protections Friday without action from the Trump administration, leaving them vulnerable to possible arrest and deportation.
Here is what to know:
What is changing
An estimated 120,000 Ukrainians who fled to the U.S. in the past two years will begin losing their humanitarian protections on a rolling basis.
The Ukrainians came to the country through
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. will begin losing legal protections Friday without action from the Trump administration, leaving them vulnerable to possible arrest and deportation.
Here is what to know:
What is changing
An estimated 120,000 Ukrainians who fled to the U.S. in the past two years will begin losing their humanitarian protections on a rolling basis.
The Ukrainians came to the country through Uniting for Ukraine. a makeshift legal program created by the Biden administration. They were granted a two-year, renewable status known as humanitarian parole, so long as they found a private American sponsor to take them in.
The background
The Biden administration set up the program as a quick avenue to allow Ukrainians to relocate because the traditional U.S. refugee system can take years to process people. The trade-off was that everyone using the program was given a temporary status that left them vulnerable if it expired. And, should the government want to arrest them, it already has their home addresses on file.
When President Trump took office, he shut down the program and stopped issuing renewals for people whose work permits were expiring.
In total, roughly a quarter-million Ukrainians came to the U.S. under Uniting for Ukraine. Those who came before Aug. 16, 2023, are still covered by a separate program, called temporary protected status. But the roughly 120,000 who arrived on that date or later will be in the country illegally the moment their humanitarian parole expires.
Earlier this summer, Trump told reporters he was inclined to allow Ukrainians to remain in the country through the end of the war. “We have a lot of people that came in from Ukraine, and we’re working with them,” he said. He is scheduled to meet Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine.
What it means for Ukrainians
Vera Serova, a volunteer lawyer with the nonprofit Nova Ukraine, which helps Ukrainians, said people who lose their status will be in a double bind. “People either have nowhere to go or not enough money to leave and start over in yet another new country,” she said.
Myroslava Voitsekh, 44 years old, came to the U.S. with her son, Oleksandr, in September 2023. Her son is now 4, and their humanitarian-parole status is set to expire Sept. 2. Voitsekh said she has no good options.
“It’s a choice between fear there and fear here,” she said. “We have only fear ahead.”
Write to Michelle Hackman at michelle.hackman@wsj.com
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