President Donald Trump is considering revoking the temporary legal status of close to a quarter million Ukrainians who fled to the United States after Vladimir Putin invaded their nation. Sources close to Trump, including a senior official within his Administration, revealed to Reuters that this could happen as soon as April.
The plan to withdraw the protections for the 240,000 Ukrainians was in the pipes before Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disastrous meeting with Donald Trump at the Oval Office last week. To be specific, the plan is just a part of Trump’s efforts to scrap the legal status of over 1.8 million migrants who were allowed to enter the United States under humanitarian programs launched by the Joe Biden Administration.
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This comes after the Donald Trump Administration rolled back intelligence sharing with Ukraine and paused all military aid to the nation. Both of these elements played a crucial role in Zelenskyy being able to fight back the Russian invasion. The pausing of military aid, especially, has caused serious fears on the Ukrainian end as they might run out of American military supplies within weeks.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after the troubled Oval Office meeting with Trump, took to X (formerly Twitter) to emphasize his interest in working with the United States.
Excerpts from the post read, “I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.”
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive,” Zelenskyy added.
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He concluded, saying, “Regarding the agreement on minerals (an agreement he was supposed to sign at the Oval Office) and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
Apart from the 240,000 Ukrainians who might be booted out, 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, and more than 70,000 Afghans who fled the Taliban, were allowed into the United States under the humanitarian programs by the Biden Administration.
