US immigration authorities detain Ukrainian women during green card interviews despite legal status
Kyiv • UNN
A Ukrainian woman who arrived in the US under the 'Uniting for Ukraine' program and had temporary protected status was detained by federal agents during her green card interview. Her husband claims she always had legal status, and her lawyers do not understand the reason for her detention.
A Ukrainian woman married to a US citizen became one of the latest applicants to be detained by federal agents during a green card interview, despite her husband's claims that she always had legal status. This was reported by Newsweek, writes UNN.
Details
Viktoria Bulavina, 46, was detained at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in San Diego just before the end of her interview on December 4, in the presence of her husband, Viktor Korol, who is battling cancer.
"We had an interview with an immigration officer for about an hour. She asked questions about everything we had submitted. Then, when everything was finished, she said everything was fine... She said everything was okay, it would be okay, but then she added, 'I need to step out, I'm sorry,'" Korol told Newsweek on Monday afternoon. "She left the room, came back with two ICE officers, and they said they were going to detain my wife."
The publication reached out to ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment via email on Monday morning.
As the publication notes, in recent weeks there has been an increase in reports of immigrants attempting to obtain permanent resident status and citizenship being detained during interviews and naturalization ceremonies at USCIS offices.
The Trump administration began punishing previously minor infractions that could have been discussed or challenged, such as a missed USCIS notice or discrepancies in documents.
What is known about the case
Bulavina came to the U.S. under the "Uniting for Ukraine" program during the Biden administration in September 2022, after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Her daughter was already in the U.S. as a member of the Ukrainian gymnastics team when the war began.
The following October, the mother applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and USCIS approved it in June 2024, allowing her to live and work in the U.S. until April 19, 2025, her legal team told Newsweek.
Bulavina married Korol in November 2024, and the couple applied for a green card in January of this year, with her TPS extension application still pending, and USCIS stating that no additional documents were needed.
Ahead of the green card interview, lawyers from the California organization Pathways to Citizenship warned the couple that other applicants had recently been detained by ICE in San Diego.
Korol told Newsweek that they believed everything would be fine, as TPS is legal status and they had done everything correctly. So when the USCIS officer returned with ICE agents, they were shocked.
Bulavina was in the federal building in San Diego until Sunday, Korol understood, and only then was she transferred to an actual ICE detention center. He spoke to his wife several times on the phone, only because a "kind-hearted guard gave her a personal phone to call."
Her lawyers still do not know why ICE decided to detain Bulavina last Thursday, emphasizing that her TPS status remains valid while the extension is pending, and marriage to a U.S. citizen should give her additional protection from forced removal.