Biden Admin More Than Quadruples the Number of Ukrainians Given Protected Status in US
The Biden administration on Friday announced a major expansion of temporary legal status for Ukrainians already living in the United States, granting a reprieve for those who fled Russia’s invasion.
The move is expected to make 166,700 Ukrainians eligible for Temporary Protected Status, up from about 26,000 currently, the Department of Homeland Security said.
To qualify, Ukrainians must have been in the United States by Aug. 16, two days before the announcement. They are eligible for work authorization.
The temporary status originally was scheduled to expire on Oct. 19, 2023, but is being extended 18 months to April 19, 2025.
“Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis requires that the United States continue to offer safety and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
The expansion comes as the administration extends Temporary Protected Status to people from a growing number of countries — including Cameroon, Haiti and Venezuela — as part of an immigration approach that combines more legal entries on humanitarian grounds with more punitive measures against anyone who enters the country illegally.
A 1990 law allows the Homeland Security secretary to grant status in increments of up to 18 months to people already in the United States whose countries are struck by civil strife or natural disaster and are considered unsafe for return.
Ukrainians first got Temporary Protected Status immediately after Russia’s invasion. The administration added humanitarian parole for those not in the United States, a move that later prompted the administration to do the same for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Friday’s announcement gives additional time to Ukrainians whose two-year parole was due to expire early next year.
Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans face more uncertainty.
Texas and other Republican-led states are challenging parole for up to 30,000 people a month from those four countries but are not contesting status for Ukrainians.
A trial is scheduled next week in Victoria, Texas.
Ukrainian immigrants are dispersed widely across the United States, with the largest concentrations in the New York City, Chicago, Seattle and Sacramento (California) metropolitan areas.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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