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The US has granted thousands of Ukrainian citizens temporary protection from deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on March 3 that it had created an 18-month Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for Ukrainians living in the US since March 1.
"Russia's premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries," DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in the statement.
"In these extraordinary times, we will continue to offer our support and protection to Ukrainian nationals in the United States," Mayorkas added.
The TPS program allows eligible persons to apply for work permits without the risk of being deported, so long they pass security and background checks, the statement said.
Around 75,000 Ukrainian nationals are expected to benefit from the program, according to the DHS, reported The Washington Post. These include Ukrainians on temporary student, tourist, or business visas, per CBS News. Ukrainians living in the US without legal permission could also qualify, the broadcaster reported.
Experts from Syracuse University estimate that almost 4,000 Ukrainians are already facing deportation proceedings in the US.
Calls from senators and immigrant advocacy groups prompted the DHS to grant protection to Ukrainian citizens in the US, according to The Post. The lawmakers — which include 40 Democratic and two Republican senators — wrote a letter to President Joe Biden on February 28, urging the administration to grant protection to Ukrainians.
"It is obviously too dangerous for Ukrainian nationals to return to Ukraine due to the ongoing armed conflict," the letter read. "As a nation, we must do our part to protect the safety of Ukrainians in the US by designating Ukraine for TPS."
The DHS said the invasion of Ukraine is the "largest conventional military action in Europe since World War II," and has triggered a massive "humanitarian crisis."
There are three statutory bases for a country to be designated TPS: armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. A country must fall into at least one of these bases in order for its nationals to be eligible for immigration relief, according to the DHS.
More than one million refugees have fled Ukraine since late February, when Russia first invaded Ukraine.
