President Trump considers revoking legal status of Ukrainians in the US
US President Donald Trump said on March 6 that he was considering whether to revoke the temporary legal status of about 240,000 Ukrainians who left the country for the United States after the conflict with Russia broke out.
The statement came after Reuters reported that his administration was planning to take the step.
If implemented, the decision would mark a significant shift from the welcoming policy of Ukrainians under President Joe Biden and could put them at risk of swift deportation.
"We don't want to hurt anybody, certainly don't want to hurt them, and I'm looking at it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about revoking the legal status of Ukrainians and deporting them. "There are some people who think it's appropriate, some people who don't, and I'll make a decision soon," Trump said.
Rescinding protections for Ukrainians would be part of a broader Trump administration strategy to strip the legal status of more than 1.8 million migrants allowed into the United States under temporary humanitarian programs implemented by the Biden administration, a senior Trump administration official and three other sources confirmed to Reuters.
Accordingly, the plan to revoke the legal status of Ukrainians could begin as early as next April. The information also revealed that the preparation process was deployed before Mr. Trump publicly attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied Reuters' report on social media, saying "no decision has been made at this time." US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said on March 5 that the department had no new announcements. Meanwhile, Ukrainian government agencies have yet to respond to the issue.
The executive order signed by Mr. Trump on January 20 required DHS to “terminate all mass humanitarian entry permit programs.”
The Trump administration also plans to revoke the legal status of about 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as early as March. CBS News previously reported on the plan.
Migrants whose legal status is revoked could face expedited deportation, according to an internal email from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency seen by Reuters.
Immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally can be placed in the expedited removal process, known as “expedited removal,” within two years of entering the U.S. But for those who entered through legal ports of entry but were not formally “admitted” — such as those with humanitarian status — there is no time limit for expedited removal, according to the email.