Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have fled the conflict for safety in the US are now falling into a "legal nightmare". The Trump administration's tough immigration policies have left them in a state of stagnation, unregulated and at risk of being deported at any time.
According to internal US government data, as of March 31, nearly 200,000 Ukrainians had or were at risk of losing their legal status. The reason is due to the delay in handling the Trump administration's extension dossier for the humanitarian program initiated by former President Joe Biden.
The program, launched in April 2022, allows about 260,000 Ukrainians to enter the US with an initial stay of 2 years. When this deadline ended, many people submitted applications for an extension but did not receive any response.
As a result, they lose their work permits, jobs and health insurance. Kateryna Golizdra, 35, lost her management job at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel with a salary of more than $50,000 a year when her legal status expired in May.
"It's a constant stress and worry. I felt like I was running on a hamster wheel," she shared.
The Trump administration suspended processing renewal applications in January for security reasons. Although a federal judge in May ordered a resumption of the process, data shows that US immigration officials have only processed 1,900 petitions since then - a too small number compared to hundreds of thousands of backlog records.
This uncertainty has forced many Ukrainians to make painful decisions. Some have chosen to emulate to other countries such as Canada, Argentina or return to Europe to avoid being detained or forced deportation.
Yevhenii Padafa, a 31-year-old software engineer, decided to leave the US for Argentina because he was afraid that if he stayed illegally, he would be banned from entering the US in the future. "If I return to Ukraine, I will have to go to the front line. I would rather be homeless somewhere," he said.
Meanwhile, those who stay live in constant fear. Anne Smith, head of the Ukrainian Immigration Service, said she receives repeated calls every week informing her of her arrest. The arrests occurred at construction sites, when delivering food or driving trucks.
