Ukrainians Who Fled War Are Losing Their Legal Status to Stay in the U.S. [View all]

[In It to Win It]

WSJ - Gift Link

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. will begin losing legal protections Friday without action from the Trump administration, leaving them vulnerable to possible arrest and deportation.

Here is what to know:

What is changing

An estimated 120,000 Ukrainians who fled to the U.S. in the past two years will begin losing their humanitarian protections on a rolling basis.

The Ukrainians came to the country through Uniting for Ukraine, a makeshift legal program created by the Biden administration. They were granted a two-year, renewable status known as humanitarian parole, so long as they found a private American sponsor to take them in.

The background

The Biden administration set up the program as a quick avenue to allow Ukrainians to relocate because the traditional U.S. refugee system can take years to process people. The trade-off was that everyone using the program was given a temporary status that left them vulnerable if it expired. And, should the government want to arrest them, it already has their home addresses on file.

When President Trump took office, he shut down the program and stopped issuing renewals for people whose work permits were expiring.