TAMPA, Fla. — Thousands of Ukrainians who fled the war and came to the United States through the Uniting for Ukraine program are now facing a new unknown as the program is set to expire Oct. 19.
Two women in the Tampa Bay area — a nurse practitioner and a mother of three — say they don't know what their future holds.
Tetiana, a Ukrainian mother of three who asked that her face not be shown, tells us her parents still live in Crimea, Russian-occupied territory. She also has no home to return to. She lived in the Kherson region with her family, but it too is under Russian control.
Tetiana's and her husband's work authorizations recently expired, leaving them with no way to support their family.
"My work permits expired on August 16, and not only mine. So it's my husband and I. And could you imagine how my family is feeling? ," Tetiana asked Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska.
"The case is still processing, but they did not tell us how long it will be. So we send an expedited request. Yes, so we are asking to expedite our cases," Tetiana said. "We have a financial hardship and humanitarian reasons because we haven't a safety place in Ukraine and any other countries."
Tetiana said she never wanted a path to citizenship — only a safe place to wait out the war with her family.
According to the Migration Policy Institute 240,000 Ukrainians received humanitarian parole through the now-paused Uniting for Ukraine program.
"Now I feel that we are in the same situation when you can't control anything, and you have no house, no nothing, except, thanks God, our lives, but it's so hard to understand that you should, I don't know what we should do," Tetiana said.
She paused during the interview to type out a message in Ukrainian before reading it in English.
"We are a family that has been forced to flee from war twice. We are here now, and we are not asking anyone to care about us. We are asking for the opportunity to stay here legally, and to the right to work, and for the chance to survive during this difficult time for us. Thank you," Tetiana said.
Alona Dniprovska, a nurse practitioner, also left Ukraine after the war began. She is one of about 240,000 Ukrainians who came to the U.S. when the bombs started falling.
"Listen, I just left everything behind, like my house, my job, my operation room, my students, my patients, even my clothes. I came here with two bags. Of course, I miss all of these," Dniprovska said. "To come back to cities which are under occupation, like from my standpoint, it will be like suicide."
While Dniprovska's husband is an American citizen, her green card application is still pending.
"Pending status, like waiting, waiting, waiting, it's very stressful," Dniprovska said.
"War is continuing and temporary status, like protected status, is temporary. Everyone understands that, but the war is not ended yet. So, what are Ukrainian people asking? Just give us some time to be here legally," Dniprovska said.
"I feel that my home is here. I don't know what it's gonna be like. Maybe I will start my life all over somewhere else. It's frustrating. Frustrating. It's scary," Dniprovska said.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Zach Kahler said the agency is handling Ukrainian cases.
"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is actively processing discretionary re-parole cases, including those for Ukrainians, on a case-by-case basis as the law intends. Under this administration, all aliens are undergoing intense screening and vetting to better protect the safety and security of the American people," Kahler said.
Immigration attorney Emel Ersan is now helping Ukrainians navigate their options.
"The biggest question is: Are they going to be treated the way that TPS applicants were treated like Haitians, and the answer is a lot of people got deportation letters," Ersan said.
Ersan said Ukrainians need to identify other legal pathways if they want to remain in the country.
"So, unless Ukrainians have other statuses they can jump to. They have an American citizen spouse. They have maybe employment, a green card through employment. Maybe an asylum claim," Ersan said. "The other issue that people have to understand is if you have an American citizen child, you can always apply for a law called cancelation. Cancelation is where prove to the judge that your child, the American citizen child, will have extreme hardship, your child or your spouse would have extreme hardship if you were deported, then you have a chance of, you know, canceling the deportation and getting a green card. So that might be an option that I think a lot of Ukrainians that have citizen children or or spouses or parents can see if they can go that way."
Ersan said she would recommend that Ukrainians considering coming to the U.S. on Temporary Protected Status consider settling in a European Union country instead.
"Do you think our immigration system is broken?" Paluska asked.
"You know, everybody has a different opinion on that. I, as an immigrant myself, I I definitely think it's broken," Ersan said. "But ultimately, the one thing that's really broken is one government comes, opens the doors, lets people in, gives them TPS, and everybody gets nice and comfortable. And then the next administration comes and throws it all away, and it's just like the immigrants are the ones that get lost in the middle because they're being tugged constantly. Yes, you can come. No, you can't. You need to leave. And it's like, it's it's a gamble when you come to the United States under anything other than legal permanent residence because everything else can be taken away by the next administration."
"I really appreciate Americans and people who helped us at first time and still helping us in this time," Tetiana said. "They've been so kind, and still so supportive, and I have friends here, and they are also so shocked about this situation, and they support us. Thank you God, that my kids grow up in a normal environment and that they know about war from news— but they don’t know war inside."
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