Less than a month after the some 240,000 Ukrainian refugees living in America were sent a threatening email about separation, they were told it was false.
In March, the Trump administration sent an email to many Ukrainian refugees who fled the country after Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded in 2022.
It read: ‘If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States.
‘Again, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States.’
But now thousands have been sent a follow-up email after the initial panic, telling them the order was an ‘error’, adding: ‘the terms of your parole as originally issued remain unchanged at this time.’
One Ukrainian woman who was sent the email told Reuters she was crying and panicking after the first email.
The Trump administration’s email was a sharp turn from former President Joe Biden’s ‘Unite For Ukraine’ humanitarian program which complemented the existing legal pathways for Ukrainians to pursue immigrant visas and refugee processing.
Biden said in 2022 that the program would provide an ‘expedient channel for secure, legal migration from Europe to the United States for Ukrainians’ who have a sponsor like family members or a nonprofit organization.
Shortly after entering the Oval Office again, Trump began his crackdown on immigration, but has been sharply criticised for his targeting of some US citizens as well.
An executive order, posted to the White House website, wrote of Trump’s plan to prevent undocumented immigrants from ‘invading’ communities and costing state and local government.
And a policy which previously restricted officer’s abilities to arrest undocumented immigrants at ‘sensitive’ locations, such as schools, churches and hospitals, has been rolled back.
The US Department of Homeland Security said: ‘Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.
‘The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.’
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