U.S. to Give Protected Status to Ukrainians, Halts Deportations

(Bloomberg) -- The Department of Homeland Security is expected to soon begin giving Temporary Protected Status to Ukrainians who are in the U.S., even as the Justice Department has halted the deportation of Ukrainian nationals who do not have green cards or other documentation.

The protected status move by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would be effective as of March 1, meaning that Ukrainian nationals would have to had been in the U.S. by then to be eligible.

“Russia's premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries,” said Mayorkas said in a statement released on Thursday evening. “In these extraordinary times, we will continue to offer our support and protection to Ukrainian nationals in the United States.”

Roughly 30,000 Ukrainians living in the U.S. on non-immigrant visas or without a visa could be protected by the decision, according to the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute.

Members of Congress from both parties have pushed the Biden administration to grant the status, which would allow Ukrainians already in the country to remain, for now.

Earlier Thursday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson confirmed the change in policy on deportations.

At least one million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began last week, and United Nations officials expect as many as 10 million people will ultimately be displaced either within Ukraine or in other countries.

ICE deportations of Ukrainian nationals comprised less than 1% of all deportations in 2020. Overall, the agency in 2020 deported 185,884 people, and 106 people to Ukraine, data show. That was a 15% decrease from 2019, when the agency deported 125 people to Ukraine.

There were 445 immigration court cases centering on Ukrainian nationals in 2016, data analyzed by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse show.

Doris Landaverde, the national spokesperson for the advocacy group National TPS Alliance, praised the move but urged President Joe Biden to do more for Ukrainian and other refugees.

“Millions of lives and his legacy depend on the decisions he makes in the hours and days ahead,” she said.