Ukrainian refugees in the US will start losing legal protection without action from the Trump administration - WSJ
Kyiv • UNN
Approximately 120,000 Ukrainian refugees in the US will begin losing humanitarian protection starting August 15. They arrived under the Uniting for Ukraine program and may now face deportation.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the US may begin to lose legal protection on Friday, August 15, without action from the administration of United States President Donald Trump, making them vulnerable to possible arrest and deportation, The Wall Street Journal reports, writes UNN.
What's changing
An estimated 120,000 Ukrainians who have fled to the US in the last two years will begin to gradually lose their humanitarian protection.
Ukrainians arrived in the country through the Uniting for Ukraine program, an improvised legal program created by the Joe Biden administration. They were granted legal status for two years with the possibility of renewal, known as "humanitarian parole," provided they found a private American sponsor to host them.
In total, approximately a quarter of a million Ukrainians arrived in the US under the Uniting for Ukraine program. Those who arrived before August 16, 2023, are still covered by a separate program called temporary protected status. But approximately 120,000 people who arrived on or after that date will be in the country illegally from the moment their humanitarian parole expires.
Earlier this summer, Trump told reporters that he was inclined to allow Ukrainians to stay in the country until the end of the war. "We have a lot of people who came from Ukraine, and we are working with them," he said.
What this means for Ukrainians
Vira Serova, a volunteer lawyer for the non-profit organization "New Ukraine," which helps Ukrainians, said that people who lose their status will find themselves in a double bind. "People either have nowhere to go, or they don't have enough money to leave and start over in yet another new country," she said.