U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow Ukrainians with temporary protected status to remain in the country, following reports people had received an email that their status was revoked and they had seven days to leave the U.S.
The agency has said the April 3 notice was issued by mistake, and the Ukrainians' designation under what's known as "humanitarian parole status" has not been terminated. They had been granted the status under the "Uniting for Ukraine" program.
But Murkowski penned a strongly worded letter on Sunday, with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem condemning the move, even if it was "apparently an error."
"Even if this message was sent in error, threatening the abrupt termination of humanitarian parole for Ukrainians is alarming and adverse to the U.S. national interest," they wrote.
Humanitarian parole is a temporary immigration status granted to those fleeing humanitarian crises, and can be revoked at any time. There were 651,000 Ukrainians granted humanitarian parole in the United States last year. An estimated 6.9 million Ukrainians have been displaced since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"Ukrainians who have participated in the Uniting for Ukraine program have entered the U.S. lawfully, passed rigorous screening and vetting requirements," the senators wrote. "These are individuals, including children, who have fled a war zone and followed a lawful process. Many are working in our states, paying taxes and contributing to local communities."
Murkowski and Shaheen also requested a briefing on any future plans regarding the Ukrainians' status.
"We urge the agency to provide immediate clarification to Ukrainians in the United States that their humanitarian parole has not been terminated, and that there are no plans to terminate the program while Ukraine is still under active attack by Russia," they said.
The agency's notice to those with humanitarian parole began: "It is time for you to leave the United States," and the recipient's parole would be terminated in seven days. "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 - unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here."
Ukrainians have been the largest group of refugees arriving in Alaska over the last three years, according to Issa Spatrisano, the Alaska state refugee coordinator with Catholic Social Services Alaska, a resettlement agency.
Spatrisano said she has received several reports of people in Alaska receiving the DHS termination notice, and the news spread secondhand very quickly. She said the effect was chilling.
"The email was very scary for Ukrainians living in Alaska and across the country," she said. "Because they really are at the whims of at any point an announcement coming from DHS, and when that announcement is made, they'll have to respond accordingly to what the announcement is."
An estimated 1,500 Ukrainians have arrived since 2022, about 500 people per year, Spatrisano said. Many joined family members, communities, and the workforce, "really much needed jobs throughout the state," she said. But the uncertainty takes a toll.
"A mental health toll," she said. "It takes a serious toll on people's well being, and that impacts on our state. There are Ukrainian families who are in the process of buying homes here in Alaska, you know, in the process of laying down roots, in the process of getting job training programs to advance in jobs that the state frankly needs really badly. And those are all investments in time and in energy and in resources that families are now wondering if they should do."
Murkowski and Shaheen have asked for "an immediate explanation as to how these emails were sent in error" and "that there are no plans to terminate the program while Ukraine is still under active attack by Russia."
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