President Trump considers revoking legal status of Ukrainian refugees in America
PHOENIX - More than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees are facing the possibility of their legal status in the United States being revoked.
President Donald Trump says he is considering the move, but adds he does not want to hurt refugees from Ukraine.
What are the people who work with Ukrainian refugees saying?
These advocates say this news is bringing fear and chaos to people who came to America trying to escape fear and chaos.
According to the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program, there are nearly 1,000 Ukrainian refugees currently residing in Arizona.
Many of those refugees fled Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion.
Now, they could face deportation back to the war-torn country.
Iryna Korshunovych with Cactus and Tryzub has lived in America for the last decade and through her work with Ukrainian refugees here in Arizona, says she has seen lives saved through the U.S. Temporary Protected Status Program.
"It has given a chance to so many Ukrainian kids to escape Russian bombing, Russian missiles, Russian occupation or being the subject to kidnapping that Russia did on the Ukrainian territory," said Korshunovych.
President Trump announced he is considering revoking that status, a decision that would affect 240,000 Ukrainians living in the U.S.
News that Iryna says would be devastating.
Why you should care:
"A majority of those people really don't even have a place to go to because it's either been destroyed by Russian missiles or has been occupied," she said.
Those who work with Ukrainian refugees - and refugees in general - say the decision would also hurt America's economy.
"They are already filling the labor shortages. They're already starting businesses, they're already paying taxes and they're contributing to the community," said Korshunovych.
"These new programs and new policies, what they will do is put people out of status to no longer be able to contribute, to no longer be able to pay their rent or mortage or businesses that they have created and opened," said Julianna Larsen with the AZ Refugee Center.
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Big picture view:
Refugee advocates say this is not a political conversation but a moral one.
"This is not a partisan issue," said Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz with AZ Jews for Justice. "People of any political party, people of any faith, people of conscience should stand with the vulnerable and with refugees who have viewed us as allies. The world has viewed us as allies for human rights for decades and we can't fail them."
Advocates say feelings of fear extend past Ukrainian refugees to any group affected by the suspension of the refugee admissions program.
What they're saying:
"You have people that were ready, they have been vetted, fully vetted, biometrics taken and many of them, they've been waiting for years and years to come to the United States," said Larsen.
"There is a general attack right now on immigrants, on foreigners, on refugees, a sense of turning back the clocks in America to a time when we weren't as welcoming as a country and we cannot allow that to happen," said Rabbi Yanklowitz.
What's next:
Refugee advocates say the possibility of a travel ban going into effect as soon as next week adds to this fear and stress.
That travel ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans, many who have family members here already.
Again, President Trump says the decision has not been formally made on either the travel ban or the revocation of the temporary protected status for Ukrainian refugees.