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The Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) said on Thursday it had suspended deportation flights to Ukraine. – just as Washington lawmakers are calling for additional protection for Ukrainian citizens.
“Against the backdrop of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, the US Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) has stopped repatriation flights to Ukraine,” an ICE spokesman told Fox News. “ICE will continue to monitor the current situation and make operational changes if necessary.
The move first reported by BuzzFeed Newsis in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and comes as Capitol Hill activists and lawmakers call for additional protection for Ukrainian citizens in the United States, including the possible use of temporary protection status (TPS).
Building burns down after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022 (AP Photo / Efrem Lukacki)
More than 40 senators, led by Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Bob Menendez, DN.J., and Kevin Kramer, RN.D., wrote to President Biden on Tuesday, calling for Ukrainian citizens. already in the country to receive a TPS – which protects citizens of certain countries living in the United States from potential deportation if they qualify, and allows them to apply for work permits and travel freely.
TPS status is granted on three grounds: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters or “emergency and temporary conditions”. Lawmakers say Ukraine “clearly meets the standard” for TPS given Moscow’s invasion.
“Providing TPS to the limited population of Ukrainians currently in the United States temporarily will cause minimal disruption to our country, but forcing these individuals to return to a military zone would be unacceptable,” the senators wrote.
“Forcing Ukrainian citizens to return to Ukraine in the midst of war would be incompatible with America’s values and our national security interests,” they said. “As a nation, we must do our part to protect the safety of Ukrainians in the United States by designating Ukraine as a TPS.
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The letter cites data from the State Department that 29,510 non-immigrant (temporary) visas were issued to Ukrainians in 2020.
A DHS spokesman told Fox News last week that he continued to monitor conditions in various countries around the world, but there were no reports at the time.