{"id":308609,"date":"2026-10-17T08:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T08:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/308609\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T08:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T08:30:15","slug":"temporary-protections-for-ukrainians-in-us-set-to-expire-trigger-deportation-archbishop-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/308609\/","title":{"rendered":"Temporary protections for Ukrainians in US set to expire, trigger deportation, archbishop says"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROME (CNS) \u2014 \u201cThe clock is ticking\u201d for more than 100,000 Ukrainians whose temporary protections allowing them to live and work in the United States are set to expire Oct. 19, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia said.<\/p>\n

Without a policy change, people who relied on just temporary measures, including the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parole program, may be \u201cconstrained to leave the country; but many of them have no home to go back to,\u201d Archbishop Borys Gudziak told Catholic News Service during a visit to Rome and the Vatican Oct. 13.<\/p>\n

If they fail to apply to other legal channels to stay, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as \u201cICE, might subject them to deportation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the temporary protected status (TPS) designation of Ukraine and related benefits were set to terminate Oct. 19. A bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives Oct. 5 would extend temporary protected status for eligible Ukrainians by redesignating protections until July 1, 2029.<\/p>\n

The U.S. administration has until Oct. 19 to renew or remove the temporary protected status for more than 100,000 Ukrainians. But some U.S. lawmakers have also been considering allowing a six-month extension to take effect automatically if the White House administration does not make a decision by the deadline.<\/p>\n

The humanitarian crisis remains severe as Ukraine enters the fifth year of full-scale war, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).<\/p>\n

Russian forces continue to attack civilians and critical civilian infrastructure, leading to thousands of deaths, displacement and the breakdown of essential services, like running water, electricity, heating and transport, it said.<\/p>\n

Humanitarian workers are also attacked, and delivering aid has become too dangerous, leading to \u201cdelayed assistance, fewer evacuation options and growing isolation,\u201d OCHA reported Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has called for peace in Ukraine through diplomacy and the protection of civilians, most recently from his hospital room recovering from lung cancer surgery. On Oct. 16, the pope spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, pushing for a ceasefire in Oleshky, Ukraine, to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians and permit their safe evacuation, the Vatican said.<\/p>\n

According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C., more than 101,000 Ukrainians held temporary protected status as of March 2025, \u201cwhile 240,000 had received humanitarian parole through the now-paused Uniting for Ukraine program,\u201d which gave them \u201crelief from deportation and access to a work permit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth populations faced an uncertain future under the Trump administration,\u201d the institute added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s probably 400,000 baptized Ukrainian Catholics in the United States,\u201d Archbishop Gudziak said during his visit.<\/p>\n

They are constantly checking social media \u201cto see if people that they know or even their closest relatives are safe, whether a bomb hasn\u2019t hit their town or home, whether a drone hasn\u2019t destroyed their school or their hospital back home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pray, they try to advocate, and they organize humanitarian assistance,\u201d he said, but \u201cthere is just constant anxiety and stress,\u201d especially now when there is \u201cno clarity about what\u2019s going to happen\u201d to those who came in on the humanitarian parole program or have TPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prospects of having to leave the country are there,\u201d he said, and many people \u201care getting fired already, even though they are performing jobs that are beneficial to the American economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archbishop Gudziak underlined the importance of the special message on immigration issued by the U.S. bishops at their plenary assembly last fall, which emphasized the \u201cGospel principles regarding the human dignity of every person, including the migrant, and our moral responsibility to help those who are fleeing life-and-death situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividually, each one of us is not only speaking out, but we\u2019re trying to help migrants\u201d of any or no faith, not just Catholics, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Americans are the successors of migrants, and so we should remember our identity and understand that the hospitality of others to our ancestors has made our life possible,\u201d said the U.S.-born archbishop whose parents were World War II refugees from Ukraine. \u201cWe should make the life of others possible as well, not cancel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an estimated 6.9 million Ukrainians had left their country as of December 2025 and another 3.7 million Ukrainians were displaced internally, the Migration Policy Institute reported in February 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussian rule leads to genocide,\u201d Archbishop Gudziak said. \u201cIn the 20th century, 15 million people were killed or died an unnatural death in Ukraine\u201d due to \u201crule from Moscow, war through Moscow\u2019s first alliance, and then a war with Nazi Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, \u201cover the last 300 years, every time there\u2019s been a Russian occupation of any part of Ukrainian territory where the Ukrainian Catholic Church lived and ministered, the church has been eliminated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the story of Ukraine today is the story of a colonized people that finally is saying a final \u2018No! We\u2019re not returning to colonial rule,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While Russian troops seem to be making \u201cno progress on the front\u201d in occupying more of Ukraine\u2019s territory, \u201cthe aggressor has added tactics of terrorizing the civilian population, regularly bombarding a few of the main cities, and hitting other small cities and towns randomly to create a sense that you are safe nowhere in Ukraine,\u201d whose territory \u201cis comparable to that from the Carolinas to Maine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite living with so much stress, trauma and fear, the people have been showing great resilience, the archbishop said, adding that the church plays a very important role in calling for greater solidarity, a sense of responsibility and \u201creminding everybody that the struggle is for the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we know that we are the beloved children of God, we live everything in a different manner,\u201d he said. \u201cA terrorist tries to convince you that you are nothing, that you\u2019re doomed, that you\u2019re going to die. And a terrorist wants you to be in despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod wants us to flourish. He wants us to know his love,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that is what we need to call each other back to: the blessing that God gives, and also a confidence that God\u2019s truth will prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 OSV News<\/p>\n

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