Trump ‘plans to deport Ukrainians who sought refuge in US’

The Trump administration is said to be planning to deport almost a quarter of million Ukrainians, with the expulsions expected as early as next month.

A Patriot air defence system installed at the military hub for Ukraine at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in Jasionka, southeast Poland. Picture: AFP.

The Trump administration is said to be planning to deport almost a quarter of million Ukrainians who sought sanctuary in the United States after the Russian invasion three years ago.

Reports of the threat to revoke their legal status emerged amid worsening relations between Washington and Kyiv. President Trump wants a swift end to the war, and for the government of President Zelensky to sign a deal that would give America access to Ukraine’s rare mineral deposits.

A public row between the two presidents in the Oval Office last week put the deal on ice and led to a number of punitive measures taken against Kyiv by the White House, including the suspension of military aid.

About 240,000 Ukrainians were granted temporary protected status by the Biden administration, which means it is not safe for them to return to their home country. It allows them to live and work in the US but does not confer any permanent residency rights.

The anticipated move by the new administration is part of a wider crackdown on migrants and a reversal of Biden-era policies. The president has also ended separate programs that allowed people in certain countries to be sponsored to enter the US temporarily for humanitarian reasons, including those fleeing the war in Ukraine and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Citing senior administration officials, Reuters reported that the plans include provisions to deport Ukrainians. The expulsions are expected to begin as early as next month and could affect up to 1.8 million people who were allowed to enter the US on humanitarian grounds.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that no decision had been made on the status of the Ukrainians.

“This is more fake news from Reuters based on anonymous sources who have no idea what they are talking about,” she said in a post on X. “The truth: no decision has been made at this time.”

Under the temporary protected status scheme, the homeland security secretary has the power to designate a country as unsafe if there is an armed conflict, an environmental disaster, an epidemic or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions”.

Biden’s homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, designated Ukraine for the scheme in March 2022. He later extended the designation until October next year.

The White House under Biden also launched the Uniting for Ukraine initiative, which was designed to allow Ukrainians suffering “immense tragedy and loss as a result of Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on their country” to enter and temporarily reside in the US.

More than 150,000 Ukrainians have travelled to the US under that scheme, which has now been suspended indefinitely.

Liana Avetisian fled Kyiv in May 2023 with her husband and their 14-year-old daughter. They bought a house in DeWitt, Iowa, but told Reuters that they are now in limbo. “We don’t know what to do,” she said.

As well as the crackdown on Ukrainians, the White House is reported to be considering a travel ban on people from Pakistan and Afghanistan. A review of security arrangements in the two countries is understood to have led to the move, which could be announced next week.

Trump praised the government in Islamabad during his address to congress on Tuesday after Pakistani security services detained Mohammed Sharifullah. The US says he is responsible for planning a suicide attack on US troops at Kabul airport during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Sharifullah was handed over to US officials earlier this week.

The Times