This is why Ukrainians now fret under Trump's regime

With Russian troops ravaging their native Kharkiv, Nikita Demydov and his wife Miroslava offered a wary "We'll see" when the United States welcomed them and their five-year-old daughter as part of a humanitarian program.

- Paula Ramon,

But that welcome is now being withdrawn under President Donald Trump, whose administration has quietly ended a policy letting Ukrainians legally reside in the country.

"We have IDs, a Social Security number, a work permit," said Demydov, 39, who has put down roots and started several small construction businesses in San Diego. "If this new policy cannot be bent, we'll lose everything again, one more time, and start from scratch again." The humanitarian program was begun under then-president Joe Biden in April 2022 to offer safety to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. Many of them found their way to the US southern border, joining desperate people from Central and Southern America seeking asylum in the US, besides Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans also seeking permission for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

But almost as soon as Trump took power, he began making good on his promise to shut the border and drastically reduce migration.