Ukrainians who entered the United States under the humanitarian program Uniting for Ukraine are on the verge of losing their legal status. After the change of administration in Washington, the process of extending permits has effectively stopped, and the partial resumption of work has not solved the problem. This is reported by Reuters.
Launched in April 2022 by the Joe Biden administration, the program allowed about 260,000 Ukrainians to receive two-year humanitarian status with the possibility of renewal. However, in early January, President Donald Trump's team stopped considering applications for renewal, citing "security concerns."
The situation became even more tense after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Donald Trump in March and Trump publicly stated that he might completely revoke the status of Ukrainians. Although the program was ultimately not stopped, the system for renewing permits remained paralyzed.
In May, a federal court ordered immigration officials to resume processing applications. But government data released last week showed that only about 1,900 applications from Ukrainians and other foreigners had been processed in the past few months — a tiny fraction of the total number of people whose statuses are expiring.
Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley said his office alone has received more than 200 applications from Ukrainians who are in an uncertain situation. He stressed that delays put people at risk of formally losing their legal status and becoming candidates for deportation.
Anne Smith, executive director of the Immigration Working Group on Ukraine, said that lawyers receive dozens of calls every week about Ukrainians being detained by immigration authorities. According to her, the detentions are recorded in various areas - at construction sites, in food delivery services, among Uber drivers, in the trucking sector, as well as during large-scale raids in Chicago and Cleveland.
Human rights activists warn that the delay in processing applications is turning thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war into hostages of the American bureaucratic system. They call on the authorities to immediately speed up procedures to avoid mass loss of status and a wave of deportations.
