The United States has begun deporting Ukrainian immigrants who previously had temporary protected status. According to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the first refugees have already been sent back to Ukraine.
According to the US president’s plan, 200,000 people will be returned to Ukraine in the coming months.
Washington is offering each refugee $1,000 in cash compensation to encourage voluntary departure from the US. These measures are motivated by the White House’s desire to reduce crime in the country. The deportation is expected to cost $250 million, initially allocated to provide assistance to other countries.
In addition to Ukrainians, 700,000 Haitian migrants will be deported.
Temporary protected status for Ukrainian citizens was first granted by former US President Joe Biden in 2022. Haitians have enjoyed this status since 2010, when their country was hit by a devastating earthquake. Since then, the status has been repeatedly extended due to ongoing security concerns and instability in the region.
The White House administration had previously called on Ukraine to accept third-country nationals deported from the United States to prevent a rise in crime in the country.
A significant proportion of refugees from Ukraine currently live in the EU. Poland alone took in 5,600 people this June. There are now almost one million Ukrainian refugees living in the republic. Only Germany has accepted more refugees — 1.2 million people.
In total, EU countries have accepted more than 4.3 million people from Ukraine. Although the overall flow of refugees from Ukraine to the EU has slowed, the proportion of men has increased from 22.0% to 24.1%.
