ORLANDO, Fla. — Ukrainians living in Central Florida are facing uncertainty after the U.S. government didn’t renew Temporary Protected Status protections for Ukrainians set to expire Oct. 19.
TPS has allowed Ukrainians to live legally in the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine more than four years ago, and during the ongoing war between the two countries.
About 100,000 Ukrainians are in the U.S. under TPS, including tens of thousands in Florida.
Natalia Panchuk, a Ukrainian citizen who has lived in Orlando since shortly after the war began in 2022, said she recently went to the DMV to renew her driver’s license. She said it expires Oct. 19, the same day TPS for Ukrainians expires.
“We came to the United States legally — we came legally — and we don’t ask for special treatment. We just want to know what we have to do,” Panchuk said.
Panchuk said the DMV did not have answers for her.
“They said we don’t have any information, we didn’t get any information and we don’t have any answer for you,” Panchuk said. “Nobody knows.”
Victoria Shelegina, an immigration attorney in Orlando who has assisted Panchuk and other Ukrainians, said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security typically either renews or ends TPS for people from a particular country within 60 days of that status expiring.
That deadline would have been in late August. Because no designation was made, Shelegina said TPS law allows for an automatic renewal for six months.
“That means Ukrainian TPS has been extended for the next six months,” Shelegina said.
Still, Shelegina said Ukrainians could run into issues getting driver’s licenses, keeping their jobs, or dealing with law enforcement, despite the understood legal extension.
“Attorneys understand that — I’m not sure ICE agents understand that,” Shelegina said.
Panchuk said the uncertainty is affecting her family, including her son who goes to college in Central Florida.
“And he’s not able to continue to visit the college, I’m not able to continue to work,” Panchuk said. “And everybody’s scared we could be arrested because if you’re not able to get any documents and stay here legally.”
The Trump administration and DHS have not formally extended protections for Ukrainians. In late September, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation to extend TPS protections for Ukrainians, as well as legislation that would provide Ukrainians with a path to permanent citizenship in the U.S. But it is unclear whether that legislation will pass or be approved by the Trump administration.
Spectrum News reached out to DHS. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Zach Kahler responded by saying in a statement, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is actively processing discretionary re-parole cases, including those for Ukrainians, on a case-by-case basis as the law intends. Under this administration, all aliens are undergoing intense screening and vetting to better protect the safety and security of the American people.”