 "A Ukrainian boy seeking asylum in the U.S. plays with a Ukrainian flag after arriving at the PedWest border crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, California, U.S., April 13, 2022. REUTERS")
US President Donald Trump’s administration has announced plans to revoke the temporary legal status of nearly 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the war and found shelter in the country as Washington grows closer to Russia.
Three sources familiar with the developments told Reuters that the unprecedented move will put Ukrainians at risk of fast-track deportation. The legal status will be removed as soon as April and would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Trump had planned to revoke temporary protections for Ukrainians way before he got into a feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week. The sources said that the recent plan is part of a larger administrative effort to strip legal status from more than 1.8 million migrants allowed to enter the US under temporary humanitarian parole programs launched under the Biden administration.
How many Ukrainians live in the US?
Since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has implemented several programs to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. In March 2022, the U.S. granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to approximately 30,000 Ukrainians already residing in the country.
As of October 2024, reports indicate that the United States and Canada collectively host about 400,000 Ukrainians.
‘End all parole’
A Trump executive order issued on January 20 called for DHS to “terminate all categorical parole programs.”
The administration plans to revoke parole for about 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as soon as this month, the Trump official and one of the sources familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Immigrants who cross the border illegally can be put into the fast-track deportation process known as expedited removal, for two years after they enter. But for those who entered through legal ports of entry without being officially “admitted” to the US - as with those on parole - there is no time limit on their rapid removal, an email from ICE read by Reuters said.
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More ShortsWith inputs from Reuters