240,000 Ukrainians likely to lose US legal status

In a latest wave of sanctions, US President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians amid ongoing conflict with Russia.

The development was confirmed by a senor Trump official stating that they could potentially be placed on fast-track to deportation.

The process is expected be completed as soon as April, he added. This would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under president Joe Biden’s administration.

The process was initiated event before Trump publicly feuded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week.

The move is part of a broader Trump administration effort to strip legal status from more than 1.8 million migrants allowed to enter the US under Biden’s temporary humanitarian parole programs.

The White House and Ukrainian embassy did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump signed the executive order on January 20 for DHS to “terminate all categorical parole programs”.

The administration plans to revoke parole for about 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as soon as this month.

The plan to revoke parole for those nationalities was first reported, opens new tab by CBS News.

According to an internal ICE email, migrants stripped of their parole status could face fast-track deportation proceedings.

Moreover, immigrants who cross the border illegally can be put into the fast-track deportation process known as expedited removal, for two years after they enter.

It is reported that about 240,000 Ukrainians flee the country during Russian invasion.