Home · World · Oct 19 archive
DHS Extends Deportation Protections for Ukrainians and Sudanese
Confirmed
In Short: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Sunday that more than 100,000 Ukrainians and Sudanese will retain their deportation protections that were set to expire Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Sunday that more than 100,000 Ukrainians and Sudanese will retain their deportation protections that were set to expire Monday.
Ukrainians and Sudanese covered by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will continue to be protected from deportation and maintain their work permits, though the DHS did not specify how long this reprieve would last.
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, criticized the decision as a 'last-minute patch' that fails to address the underlying issues.
The Biden administration granted TPS for Ukraine in 2022 due to the ongoing war with Russia, while Sudanese immigrants have had the status for nearly 30 years due to armed conflict and displacement.
Approximately 103,700 Ukrainians and 1,900 Sudanese people are beneficiaries of the program, according to DHS.
Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, expressed gratitude for the extension but warned that it is only temporary.
The Trump administration had previously sought to end these temporary protections and send people back to their home countries.
Advocates argue that conditions in Ukraine and Sudan remain unsafe for return, with Russia's war on Ukraine nearing its fifth year and Sudan locked in a brutal civil war.
The DHS stated that final decisions on the fate of the program for Ukrainian and Sudanese immigrants will be made 'at an appropriate time.'
The decision follows a similar approach taken by the administration in September, when protections were kept in place for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans whose TPS was set to expire.
Immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan are now facing uncertainty about the documents employers need to verify their eligibility, as the status of their protections remains unclear.
Background
An American national security policy, homeland security is "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to the "national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorism, and minimize the damage from attacks that do occur." According to an official work published by the Congressional Research Service in 2013, the "Homeland security" term's definition has varied over time.
What's confirmed
- MIAMI: More than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can stay in the United States without immediate risk of deportation, the Department of Homeland Security said, in what amounts to a temporary reprieve after their right to stay in the country was set to expire Monday.
- Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid in Ukraine and helps resettle newcomers in the US, described the government’s announcement as “last-minute patches.” It is a “bandage that has been placed on a wound that does not solve the real issue,” he said.
- “Russia’s war on Ukraine is nearing its fifth year, and Ukrainians are bracing for another winter under drone and missile strikes, driving civilian casualties and devastating critical infrastructure. Sudan remains locked in a brutal civil war marked by famine, widespread human rights abuses and the hallmarks of genocide,” Vignarajah said.
- But DHS said an announcement “will be made at the appropriate time.” Until then, the department said in a written statement, Ukrainians and Sudanese in the US covered by those temporary measures “retain protection.” The Department did not indicate how long they could stay or when a final announcement would be made on their status.
- Advocates are grateful for DHS decision, warn about the war “We’re grateful for an extension, however temporary, for TPS holders from Ukraine and Sudan,” said Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, an organization that has provided humanitarian assistance in both countries.
- The decision Monday marks another incident where the Trump administration, which has previously sought to end these temporary protections from deportation and send people back to their home countries, has allowed people covered by the temporary status to stay in the country but without giving any guidance as to how long.
- “It’s time for US to come up with some normal path to permanent residency for all these people,” Boyechko noted.
- In that case they also said that they were going to make a decision at the appropriate time and that in the meantime, people from El Salvador could continue to work and live in the U.S. Activists and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been raising the alarm over the upcoming deadline for TPS to expire for Ukrainians, arguing that conditions remain unsafe for them to return home amid the war with Russia.
- "It is not safe for these families to go home."
- Ukrainian and Sudanese immigrants covered by Temporary Protected Status will retain their deportation protections and work permits beyond the programs' scheduled Oct. 19 expiration.
- The Department of Homeland Security told CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez that Until those decisions are announced, beneficiaries will maintain their protections, he reported in the posts shared with this reporter.
What's still developing
- Left: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sign seen during an Oct. 9 news conference at ICE Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
- “It’s beyond cavil that both Sudan and Ukraine are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, and therefore the secretary is well within his authority to continue TPS for each of them.” The Trump administration has already terminated TPS for more than 1 million people from 13 countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria.
- “It’s simply going to be an extension until it is a termination,” he said.
- Trump administration officials have called the Temporary Protection Status program a de facto amnesty policy, which they say the Biden administration used to encourage illegal immigration, and the temporary program has been extended too long.
- Protections under the program have been revoked for more than 1 million immigrants from over a dozen countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti and Venezuela.
- "Facing this uncertainty is frustrating and painful," she said.
- "What's going to happen with the mortgage?"
- A bipartisan group of Senators had introduced a bill in September extending TPS for Ukrainians.