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Trump Administration Moves to End Protections for 240,000 Ukrainian Refugees, Reuters Reports

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Vlad Litnarovych
Vlad Litnarovych
Author
Trump Administration Moves to End Protections for 240,000 Ukrainian Refugees, Reuters Reports
Ukrainians who are seeking asylum in the United States gather in a city government shelter for Ukrainians, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on April 6, 2022, in Tijuana, Mexico. (Source: Getty Images)

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to strip legal protections from approximately 240,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the country after 2022, potentially placing them at risk of rapid deportation, Reuters reported on March 6, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The decision, expected in April, is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to revoke humanitarian protections granted under President Joe Biden.

In total, the move could strip legal status from over 1.8 million migrants who were admitted under Biden’s temporary humanitarian parole programs.

The rollback of protections for Ukrainians had reportedly been in the works even before Trump’s recent public feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The planned termination of parole status would not only impact Ukrainians but also 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans—with revocations for these groups expected as soon as March.

According to an internal ICE email seen by Reuters, migrants stripped of their parole status could face expedited deportation.

Unlike undocumented immigrants, who can only be subject to fast-track removal within two years of crossing the border, parolees face no such time limit and could be deported immediately.

The Biden administration originally introduced temporary legal pathways to deter illegal immigration and provide humanitarian relief, covering:

  • 240,000 Ukrainians who fled Russia’s full-scale invasion

  • 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans

  • 70,000 Afghans escaping the Taliban

  • 1 million migrants who scheduled legal border crossings via the CBP One app

Earlier, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the suspension of the United for Ukraine (U4U) program, which has provided a pathway for Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s war to enter the United States.

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