US Lawmakers Urge Trump Admin to Protect Ukrainian Parolees

May 26 ------ A bipartisan group of US lawmakers led by Bill Keating (D-MA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is urging the administration of President Donald Trump to bring stability to the lives of Ukrainians who reside in the US on humanitarian parole. The move comes amid recent reports that the Trump administration wants to use $250 million from the foreign aid budget to launch a program for “voluntary deportation” of migrants, which could apply to more than 100,000 Ukrainians.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration paused the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program, a Biden-era streamlined process for displaced Ukrainians and their immediate relatives to apply for humanitarian parole, started on April 25, 2022. Since February 2022, 271,000 Ukrainians have entered the US – with more than 117,000 having been admitted specifically under the U4U program. In the meantime, the Trump administration recently extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukrainians for 18 months, from April 20, 2025, through Oct. 19, 2026.

On April 30, Congressmen Keating and Fitzpatrick introduced a bill called the Ukrainian Adjustment Act 2025, which is co-sponsored by Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Lloyd Doggett [D-TX].  If passed, the bill will grant Ukrainians who arrived after April 2022 and have had protection in the US, allowing them to work, contribute to society, and maintain a stable life. “The Ukrainian Adjustment Act is more than just a policy proposal. It’s a reflection of American values in real time,” Vlad Skots, founder and co-chair of the Ukrainian American House, a nonprofit aimed at building an effective partnership between Ukraine and the US, told Kyiv Post.“After welcoming over 170,000 Ukrainians fleeing war many through the U4U program the US now has a responsibility: to provide stability, not uncertainty,” Skots said.

Given the prolonged nature of the conflict, those Ukrainians who have entered the U.S. remain under threat and are unable to return to their homes. “This bill comes at a pivotal moment,” Skots emphasized. “Thousands of Ukrainians are living, working, paying taxes, and contributing meaningfully to American communities. But they’re doing it under temporary status with a clock ticking. The Adjustment Act would give these individuals a real future, not just borrowed time,”  he explained.

Without this legislation or clear long-term protections like extended TPS “we risk forcing families into impossible decisions: leaving their jobs, pulling children out of schools, or falling into undocumented status despite having done everything right,” Skots said, adding “that’s not just bad policy. It contradicts the ideals of freedom, opportunity, and humanity that America is supposed to stand for.” He concluded: “In short, this bill isn’t about politics. It’s about whether the U.S. keeps its word, whether it backs its promises with action when it matters most.”

Speaking to Kyiv Post’s Washingon correspondent, two congressional aides who had been involved in drafting the Ukrainian Adjustment Act, said that the bill was originally modeled on the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would provide eligible Afghan nationals who supported the US mission in Afghanistan with a similar permanent residence status. However, last week, the Trump administration said it would end the TPS program for Afghanistan this summer, which means more than 9,000 refugees may be forced back to the Taliban-ruled country. “As we continue to support Ukrainians in their fight for Liberty in their land, so should we support those who will make their home in our country while that same war continues to rage,” as one congressional aide told Kyiv Post.

Source: kyivpost.com