President Trump’s administration is planning to revoke the legal status of around 240,000 Ukrainians who fled Russia’s invasion, according to multiple reports.
The decision would put the refugees on track for deportation, even though the Ukrainians entered the country legally during former President Biden’s term, Reuters reported.
“No decision has been made at this time,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on social media Wednesday.
According to Reuters, the plan was already in place before Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House last week.
The Ukrainian refugees entered the U.S. under so-called “immigration parole,” which grants temporary legal status to people fleeing worldwide conflict or other persecution. The program also gives the new immigrants pathways to full-time residency.
Trump, 78, has taken aim at many immigration policies used widely by the Biden administration. On the campaign trail, he promised to undo several of them, and then paused all parole programs on his first day in office.
In addition to the Ukrainian plan, the Trump administration is also planning to revoke legal status for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, CBS News reported.
The program also covered around 70,000 people who fled Afghanistan after the U.S. pulled out in 2021, according to Reuters. Some Afghans who entered the country legally have already been detained by immigration authorities.
“When someone stands shoulder to shoulder with American troops and puts his life in danger…” a man named Rafi told Reuters from an ICE detention center. “I wasn’t expecting this behavior from them. I wasn’t expecting it.”
