<\/p>\n
With Russian troops ravaging their native Kharkiv, Nikita Demydov and his wife Alina were offered a way out when the United States welcomed them and their five-year-old daughter as part of a humanitarian program.<\/p>\n
But that welcome is now being withdrawn under President Donald Trump, whose administration has suspended “Uniting for Ukraine,” which allowed more than 200,000 Ukrainians to legally reside in the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We have IDs, a Social Security number, a work permit,” said Demydov, 39, who has put down roots and started several small construction businesses in San Diego.<\/p>\n
“If the new government cancels it, we’ll lose everything again, one more time, and start from scratch again.”<\/p>\n
The humanitarian program was begun under then-president Joe Biden in April 2022 to offer safety to some of the thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian advance.<\/p>\n
Many of them had found their way to the US southern border, joining desperate people from Central and Southern America seeking asylum in the US.<\/p>\n
Biden also established admission programs for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.<\/p>\n
But almost as soon as Trump took power, he began making good on his promise to shut the border and drastically reduce migration.<\/p>\n
The programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have been terminated, while that for Ukrainians has been paused.<\/p>\n
That stoppage has left tens of thousands of Ukrainians in limbo and in fear.<\/p>\n
“This program gave Ukrainians the chance for stability,” said Ester Miroshnychenko, an 18-year-old high school student who moved to the United States with her parents and eight siblings in 2022.<\/p>\n
“If I have to leave everything, it’s gonna be really hard for me. It’s gonna be like everything that I achieved is gonna be destroyed,” said Miroshnychenko, who didn’t speak English when she arrived in the United States.<\/p>\n
“I would say to them… think about actual people who worked hard, who left everything behind, and they still find motivation to continue even after war.<\/p>\n
“Taking away those opportunities… for what?”<\/p>\n
Demydov says the winds of anti-migrant intolerance blowing from Washington are completely out of step with his daily experience in a country where he has always felt welcomed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“You will not see it from the regular people,” he said.<\/p>\n
“American people are happy to have us here. But at the highest level… I’m a little bit… not even confused. I’m scared.”<\/p>\n
Vlad Fedoryshyn, who settled in the United States in 2020 and became a liaison and supporter for Ukrainians who arrived under the humanitarian program, receives between 20 and 30 calls a day from people fretting about what will happen to them.<\/p>\n
Many are beginning to see the impact of the program’s pause, with their work permits and other applications paralyzed.<\/p>\n
“People are very worried,” he said.<\/p>\n
“When you hear from the government that, hey, we’re not going to have (this) program for you anymore… what does that mean?” asked Fedoryshyn, who works for a mailing company.<\/p>\n
“It was super hard for them to rent an apartment, to find a job, to just establish their life here,” he added. “And when this thing happened, they don’t know what’s going to happen with their parole, they start feeling unsafe.”<\/p>\n
Fedoryshyn, 26, believes the Trump administration does not really understand what is happening on the ground in Ukraine, where civilians come under frequent attack from invading Russian forces.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The sudden about-face in US policy towards his country is upsetting and disorientating.<\/p>\n
“We are a small country,” said Fedoryshyn, who learned in textbooks that the United States and other European countries were allies and protectors of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
For him, seeing Trump rebuke President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last month was very difficult to swallow.<\/p>\n
“We were always relying on this protection. And right now, when Trump was talking to the President like that… I almost was crying.”<\/p>\n
Fedoryshyn says he finds it difficult to believe that other countries, which opened their doors to Ukrainians at the beginning of the war, will want to welcome more migrants.<\/p>\n
But returning is almost impossible.<\/p>\n
“Are you going to want to go back to Ukraine, where the war continues, where missiles could fall or a drone could hit your house any day?” he said. “They just want to be safe.”<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n
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