About 200,000 Ukrainians in the United States are in legal limbo due to delays in processing applications for an extension of a humanitarian program that allowed them to live and work in the United States, Reuters reports, noting that the administration of President Donald Trump has not yet made a clear decision on the fate of the program.
This is a humanitarian initiative launched in April 2022 that allowed nearly 260,000 Ukrainians to enter the United States for a two-year period. However, as of March 31, nearly 200,000 people were at risk of losing their legal status due to delays in processing renewal applications. Many of them have still not received extensions of their residence and work permits.
This figure, the agency emphasizes, is a small part of the total 5.9 million Ukrainian refugees in the world, of which 5.3 million are in European countries. However, the situation in the United States has become one of the most acute - due to bureaucratic collapse, people are effectively losing the opportunity to work legally and provide for themselves.
Reuters spoke to dozens of Ukrainians who have already lost their work permits and jobs. They include technical workers, a kindergarten teacher, a financial consultant, an interior designer and a college student. They all describe difficult financial circumstances, living on savings, support from local communities or forced into debt.
Some Ukrainians admitted that they are afraid of arrest by US immigration and avoid unnecessary contact with government agencies. Others noted that they hardly leave their homes, and some have decided to leave the country, moving to Canada, European countries, or even South American countries.
At a time when the Ukrainian refugee program needs urgent solutions, delays in the US administration continue to create risks for tens of thousands of people caught between war at home and legal uncertainty overseas.
