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A group of lawyers is helping Ukrainian immigrants stay in the US and move their family members out of the war-torn country.
One such lawyer, Erika Curran, assistant professor at the University of Dayton School of Law, told Fox News that she and others felt the need to intervene immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“As soon as we learned about the situation in Ukraine, we knew that temporary protected status would most likely be granted,” Curran said. “We wanted to see how we can help people and get involved in providing support.”
A wounded woman reacts after shelling a residential area in Kyiv on March 18, 2022, as Russian troops attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital as part of their slow-moving offensive. Kyiv authorities said one person died early Friday when a downed Russian missile hit a residential building in the capital’s northern suburbs. According to them, a school and a playground were also damaged. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this month that Ukrainian migrants living in the US since March 1 will be eligible for temporary protected status, which allows qualified individuals to obtain work permits and protects them from deportation.
Temporary protected status allows immigrants from foreign countries affected by armed conflict, environmental disasters or other “emergency and temporary conditions” to stay in the country for 18 months.
About 4,000 Ukrainians were present at the time the deportation case was announced, according to CBS News. The DHS estimates that the move could help 75,100 Ukrainian immigrants to the US.
People walk along a road near a forest to escape Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in the Vyshgorod district near Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 10, 2022. (REUTERS/Sergey Nuzhnenko)
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The group of lawyers is also helping Ukrainian immigrants bring their family members to the US, Curran said.
“Some people are still trying to bring family in temporarily on tourist visas,” she told Fox News. “There are situations where people are trying to start a family but cannot get into the United States on a tourist visa to other countries or to Mexico.”
Curran and others are also helping Ukrainians apply for humanitarian parole, which allows individuals who may be “inadmissible or otherwise ineligible to enter the United States” to be temporarily admitted for “urgent humanitarian reasons.”
According to Curran, some Ukrainians fled to Mexico seeking asylum on the US border.
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She added that several families she works with are still trying to get the family out of Ukraine. However, men under 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.
This picture, taken on the Ukrainian-Polish border, shows how people carry everything they can from home. (Francesco Malavolta)
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Curran said the situation creates difficult choices, forcing families to decide whether they should separate so that women, children and the elderly can flee while the men stay and fight.
“Our efforts are just part of a large group of pro bono lawyers trying to help in any way we can,” she said.
The United Nations said this week that 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion. Most have gone to neighboring countries of Ukraine, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania.