White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on a report Thursday that the administration is preparing to revoke temporary legal status for about 240,000 Ukrainians who escaped the war against Russia.
“This is more fake news from Reuters based on anonymous sources who have no idea what they are talking about,” Ms. Leavitt posted on X. “The truth: no decision has been made at this time.”
Reuters reports the plan is set to happen as early as April and would reverse migration policies under humanitarian parole for Ukrainians established by former President Joseph R. Biden.
Mr. Trump issued an executive order in January that called on the Homeland Security Department to “terminate all categorical parole programs.”
About 5.2 million Ukrainian refugees live abroad, with most of them receiving protection in EU countries.
Migrants stripped of the humanitarian parole may be fast-tracked for deportation.
The Washington Times reported in 2022 that the Biden administration rushed to vet Americans who wanted to sponsor Ukrainians fleeing their country amid the conflict.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was overwhelmed by the demands of the Biden administration at the time and worried that the raw recruits were being sought to rubber-stamp all applications.
