In a widely applauded move, the Biden administration last week designated Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), extending vital relief to potentially 75,000 Ukrainians already in the U.S. Under the program, eligible applicants will be protected from returning to imminent harm for a period of 18 months.
It’s a big relief for people like 62-year-old Iryna Volvach. She was visiting California when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine. Volvach told the Associated Press that her family back home isn’t worried about her, because she’s here. But she’s certainly “worried about them.”
The federal government has discretion under federal law to designate countries for temporary status when extraordinary conditions, such as armed conflict, make returns unsafe. 20-year-old Harvard University student Nika Rudenko told the AP that she’s looking at the program. She’s missed class in recent days, incredibly distraught over Russia’s invasion. But that could risk her student visa. Her family is currently in hiding.
“My mental state is not very stable and it’s just very difficult to keep up with work and at the same time to try to do something for my country,” she said in the report. “It feels very weird to understand that everyone else’s lives just carry on, but my life has completely changed. People just cannot feel what you’re going through, and it hurts.”
“While Rudenko’s pain could be eased a bit by gaining protected status, it appears Volodymyr Bobko’s mother-in-law is not as fortunate,” the AP continued. The Massachusetts family had applied for a tourist visa for her several months ago, to help with their soon-to-be-born baby. But, her arrival came just two days after the Biden administration’s March 1 cutoff.
“She wants to get back, maybe in a couple of months, but we don’t know yet what the situation is going to be in a couple of months,” Bobko told the AP. “Right now, she’s still thinking she’s still going to live in Ukraine because it’s a beautiful country and she has a lot of friends and families over there.”
In announcing Ukraine for temporary status last week, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas said that “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. In these extraordinary times, we will continue to offer our support and protection to Ukrainian nationals in the United States.”
The Biden administration in recent days also announced designation for Sudan, and redesignation for South Sudan. Advocates have also urged relief for other nations currently in crisis, including Cameroon, Mauritania, and Afghanistan.
The U.N. said on Sunday that Russia’s invasion is causing the most rapid refugee crisis in roughly 80 years, with more than two million Ukrainians fleeing to neighboring countries as of March 8. “The UN estimates that 12 million people inside Ukraine will need relief and protection, while more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees may need protection and assistance in neighboring countries in the coming months,” the organization said.
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