The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to revoke the temporary legal status of about 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official told Reuters, preparing to deport them. The move, expected as early as April, would be a stunning reversal of the welcome accorded Ukrainians under President Joe Biden.
The planned rollback of protections for Ukrainians was underway before Trump publicly discussed it with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to strip the legal status of more than 1.8 million immigrants allowed into the United States under temporary humanitarian parole programs launched under the Biden administration, Reuters notes.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the department had no immediate comment. The White House and the Ukrainian embassy did not respond to requests for comment. An executive order Trump issued on Jan. 20 called on DHS to "end all categorical parole programs."
The administration plans to revoke parole for about 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as early as this month, the Trump official and one of the sources familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The plan to revoke parole for those nationalities was first reported, opens new tab, by CBS News.
Immigrants who cross the border illegally can be placed in the expedited deportation process known as expedited removal, for two years after they enter. But for those who entered through legal ports of entry without being officially "admitted" to the U.S., such as those released on parole, there is no time limit on their expedited removal, the email said. (A2 Televizion)
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