Natalia’s son does not remember Ukraine. He thinks he’s been living in the United States his entire life.
“He doesn’t understand why he has to leave,” her friend Tatiana explained.
But unless there is swift action by the Trump administration, Natalia, Tatiana and their families could be among thousands of Ukrainians who may have to once again uproot their lives as their work authorizations and legal status in the US expire.
CNN is not using the real names of any of the Ukrainians quoted in this story. They say they fear reprisal.
Natalia, Tatiania and their families came to the US under Uniting for Ukraine (U4U), a US government humanitarian parole program created under the Biden administration that allowed private US citizens to sponsor and help support Ukrainians who left because of the war.
The people who came to the US under that program were given two years of humanitarian parole.
Approximately 280,000 Ukrainians came to the US through the U4U program before it was suspended at the start of the Trump administration.
Those who arrived before August 16, 2023, were eligible to apply for temporary protected status (TPS) as well, which would extend protections beyond the two years. It is a costly process, and the application cannot be filed too early. Those who arrived after that date were unable to apply for TPS.
“Certain Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who were displaced by the Russian invasion and paroled into the United States on or after Feb. 11, 2022, can request a new period of parole (also known as re-parole) for up to two additional years,” according to US Customs and Immigration Servies (USCIS).
Ukrainians who initially fled to Mexico amid the Russian invasion of their homeland, walk at the El Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico to cross into the US, in April 2022. – Quetzalli Nicte-Ha/Reuters
However, the administration had an administrative hold “on all pending USCIS Benefit Requests filed by Parolees Under the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) Process” until a court order in late May required them to resume processing benefits requests filed by U4U parolees.
“Requests for re-parole will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and aliens need to demonstrate that urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit justify their continued presence in the United States and that they warrant a favorable exercise of discretion,” a USCIS spokesperson said.
And as authorizations and protections expire, many Ukrainians have not heard back from US authorities about their status, leaving them in limbo and unable to legally work.
Tatiana, Natalia and her husband all applied for temporary protected status, but they say they have not heard back. Their work authorizations have expired, and they have had to leave their jobs.
“We have to just buy food and pay our bills for apartments and our cars. We can’t wait,” Tatiana explained to CNN.
“Ukrainians, we just don’t understand why it happened with us, because the US government led us to come here. They invite us to come here,” Natalia told CNN.
A burnt car is pictured in front of a burning house following a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 11. – Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images
Although the state of uncertainty that thousands of Ukrainians now find themselves in is not unfamiliar, it is one they did not want to have to relive.
“It’s not easy to start a new life in another country,” said Tatiania.
“It’s so far away from our families,” she said. “I think that our kids, it’s more painful for them.”
Those who spoke to CNN said if they are forced to leave the US, they do not know where they will go.
“Countries in Europe, they also cannot just take all the people from the US,” Tatiana said.
Even if there is a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Tatiana told CNN she would not feel safe returning to her home country as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power.
“Even if now they will make a peace for some time, we don’t know, for a year, for two years, or for six months … we know that it will happen. It will start again,” she said.
American advocates who sponsored Ukrainians to come to the US are still lobbying lawmakers and the administration to take action.
Demonstrators hold American and Ukrainian flags in solidarity with Ukraine, in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 14, ahead of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. – Nathaniel Wilder/Reuters
Angela Boelens, who sponsored several Ukrainians to come to DeWitt, Iowa, said she does not know if policymakers fully understand the complexity of the problem.
“When we say Ukrainians are at risk, they might come back at you with, ‘Well, actually, President Trump said that they could stay.’ Well, that doesn’t mean that they can work,” she said. “They have no paperwork that says that they’re here legally … They can’t work. We’re forcing people to become criminals if they try to support their families.”
Boelens told CNN she never would have sponsored Ukrainians to come to the US and said if she had known the uncertain future of the program.
“I brought people here with the understanding this is a very legal, very frugal, pragmatic, practical program to help build small communities and do the right thing for people in Ukraine,” she said.
“I have an extreme amount of guilt every day, not just for Ukrainians, but for the Iowans that sponsored them, the Iowans that brought them here and put their hearts and their hands out. It’s heartbreaking,” Boelens said.
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