U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially putting them on a fast-track to deportation.
The move, expected as soon as April, would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden's administration.
The planned rollback of protections for Ukrainians was underway before Trump publicly feuded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week. It is part of a broader Trump administration effort to strip legal status from more than 1.8 million migrants allowed to enter the U.S. under temporary humanitarian parole programs launched under the Biden administration, the sources said.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the department had no announcements at this time. The White House and Ukrainian embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
A Trump executive order issued on January 20 called for DHS to "terminate all categorical parole programs."
The administration plans to revoke parole for about 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as soon 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.
Migrants stripped of their parole status could face fast-track deportation proceedings, according to an internal ICE email seen by Reuters.
Immigrants who cross the border illegally can be put into the fast-track 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. - as with those on parole - there is no time limit on their rapid removal, the email said.
The Biden programs were part of a broader effort to create temporary legal pathways to deter illegal immigration and provide humanitarian relief.
In addition to the 240,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, and the 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, these programs covered more than 70,000 Afghans escaping the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
An additional 1 million migrants scheduled a time to cross at a legal border crossing via an app known as CBP One.
Thousands more had access to smaller programs, including family reunification parole for certain people in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Trump as a candidate pledged to end the Biden programs, saying they went beyond the bounds of U.S. law.
The Trump administration last month paused processing immigration-related applications for people who entered the U.S. under certain Biden parole programs - placing Ukrainian Liana Avetisian, her husband and her 14-year-old daughter, in limbo. Avetisian, who worked in real estate in Ukraine, now assembles windows while her husband works construction.
The family fled Kyiv in May 2023, eventually buying a house in the small city of DeWitt, Iowa. Their parole and work permits expire in May. They say they spent about $4,000 in filing fees to renew their parole and to try to apply for another program known as Temporary Protected Status.
Avetisian has started getting headaches as she worries about their situation, she said.
We dont know what to do, she said.
WANING WELCOME
U.S. allies from Afghanistan who entered under Biden have also been swept up in Trump's crackdown.
Rafi, a former Afghan intelligence officer who asked to be identified only by his first name to protect family members still in Afghanistan, entered the U.S. legally in January 2024 using the CBP One mobile app at the U.S.-Mexico border. He was given a temporary humanitarian parole status that allowed him to live and work in the United States for two years.
On February 13, just over a year into that status, he was detained at a check-in appointment at an ICE office in Chantilly, Virginia. His status was revoked.
In Afghanistan, Rafi was trained by American officers and provided intelligence on High Value Targets, according to an October 2022 recommendation letter.
As a result of his active efforts against the enemy, he is currently in extreme danger, and in need of assistance in departing the country, the former CIA officer who trained him wrote.
The officer described Rafi as truly one of the most dedicated and hardworking individuals I had the honor to serve with in Afghanistan. Reuters reviewed the letter but was not able to reach the officer.
In the United States, Rafi applied for asylum and was scheduled for a hearing before an immigration judge in April.
At his February ICE check in - one of the conditions for his temporary status - he was asked to remove his belt and shoelaces, he said. He knew immediately what was happening, he said, and still, he asked: Are you arresting me? I have broken no law.
Rafi said he felt betrayed.
When someone stands shoulder to shoulder with American troops and puts his life in danger he said in a phone call from detention, his voice shaking.
I wasn't expecting this behavior from them. I wasn't expecting it.
On February 24, his lawyer wrote to ICE asking them to release her client, noting his lack of a criminal record, that he was not a flight risk and had an active asylum case related to his work supporting the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
James Mullan, the assistant field office director at ICEs Washington field office responded that ICE was declining to release him.
The priorities that you mentioned in your email ended on January 20, 2025, Mullan wrote, referring to the date of Trumps inauguration.
Holy shit, what is the Florida gov gonna say about that irt to CubansDeSatan is gonna get down on his knees and crank that jaw open as wide as it goes
DeSatan is gonna get down on his knees and crank that jaw open as wide as it goesHe'll unhinge his jaws like an anaconda.
Holy shit, what is the Florida gov gonna say about that irt to Cubanshttps://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9f43a64c.jpg
We just getting rid of everybody in the country at this rate. Just gonna be the citizens too poor to leave and the rich to exploit the land...
DeSatan is gonna get down on his knees and crank that jaw open as wide as it goesWell that's a disturbing but accurate imagery
Rest in pasta Florida Cubans, you reap what you fucking sow.
this is just cruel. what do they get out of this if not genuine pleasure at seeing people suffer?Less brown. More white.
Youre spiking your little football over asylum seekers getting the boot?Those Cuban asylum seekers probably all advocated for everyone to vote for Trump anyways cause Dems are communists. Just more people feeling the cruelty they wished upon others.
Leopards be eating good in FloridaBy the end of this, it'll be eligible to be the state animal
Sending Cubans back to Cuba?
I never thought the leopards would eat my face.
I mean, seeing the devotion those Cubans have for anything republican I think they'll be thanking him even after this tbhI am curious how the Cuban community views migration.
Wondering if that sort of mentality exists in the Cuban community too or if it's different issues.I've heard they're incredibly gross about migrants.
I am curious how the Cuban community views migration.I couldn't find the article/anecdote if I wanted to probably, but I've heard that many Latin Americans who have citizenship look down on the illegal immigrants for similar reasons.
I've met many, many Eastern European migrants who outright hate Latin American immigrants because "they didn't wait their turn" and "I had to come here legally".
Wondering if that sort of mentality exists in the Cuban community too or if it's different issues.
So Trump is sending back Ukrainian refugees back to Ukraine where at the same time he's also stopped providing arms and intelligence to their military?Remember the St Louis.
Why not just send them to Moscow instead if you want them dead so much?
I couldn't find the article/anecdote if I wanted to probably, but I've heard that many Latin Americans who have citizenship look down on the illegal immigrants for similar reasons.
It's all "Fuck you got mine" mentality that will inevitably bite the entire community in the ass
Youre spiking your little football over asylum seekers getting the boot?If they voted for Trump, then they're getting exactly what they voted for.
Youre spiking your little football over asylum seekers getting the boot?
The move, expected as soon as April, would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden's administration.
The Biden programs were part of a broader effort to create temporary legal pathways to deter illegal immigration and provide humanitarian relief.I don't get it. People have been telling me that both sides were the same. Why would Trump do this?
In addition to the 240,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, and the 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, these programs covered more than 70,000 Afghans escaping the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
So long as this law exists, Cuban Americans will rarely ever turn on the GOP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Adjustment_ActThey better hope the Supreme Court finds Trump in violation of that now that parole status being revoked.
So long as this law exists, Cuban Americans will rarely ever turn on the GOP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Adjustment_ActYou mean a law signed into existence by a democratic president?
Cubans? What an idiot American Cubans is one of the most consistent conservative voting block there is.https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3a56bf9a.jpg
Cubans? What an idiot American Cubans are one of the most reliable conservative voting block there is.
Dey'll def still vote for him too lolOnly if they can vote.
They didn't vote to have their legal status revoked. They voted for others to have their legal status revoked.Caring about only your own rights is how you lose them.
They didn't vote to have their legal status revoked. They voted for others to have their legal status revoked.Well when the fucking racist fascists are roaming the streets wantonly grabbing any non-white, they'll have reaped what they sowed
He'll unhinge his jaws like an anaconda.Woah there cowboy. Word on the grapevine is that he'd barely have to part his lips.
They didn't vote to have their legal status revoked. They voted for others to have their legal status revoked.Sorta like Wil E. Coyote being tricked to hold onto the stick of dynamite he intended to throw at someone else.
Shush.
Despite the political diversification within the Cuban-American community, Kamala Harris faces a significant challenge in winning their support in the 2024 elections. The economy (and inflation in particular) has become a central issue in the current presidential race. Harris bears the stigma of being part of an administration whose economic performance is negatively rated by 72% of Cuban-American voters in Florida.
Additionally, 77% of Cuban-Americans disapprove of Joe Bidens policy on Cuba. According to the CRI survey, on the main topics of the electoral agenda, the majority of Cuban-Americans rate the Biden-Harris administrations performance negatively.
Cubans were the only Latino group that shifted towards Trump. Now I will feel for the ones that didn't want this, but for those Trump voters?
Enjoy that leopard.
Youre spiking your little football over asylum seekers getting the boot?