The Biden administration has suspended deportation flights to Ukraine, Russia and seven other Eastern European countries due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, two people familiar with the pause told CBS News on Thursday.
In a statement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed a suspension of deportation flights to Ukraine.
“Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis occurring in Ukraine, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has paused repatriation flights to Ukraine,” an agency spokesperson told CBS News. “ICE will continue to monitor the ongoing situation and make operational changes as necessary.”
Congressional officials were informed that ICE paused deportations flights to Russia and another seven countries in the region, including Belarus, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, a person briefed on the matter told CBS News.
ICE did not respond to requests to confirm the other deportation pauses. It’s unclear how long ICE will halt deportations to the nine countries.
The pause comes as the Biden administration faces intensifying bipartisan pressure to allow Ukranians living in the U.S. to apply for deportation protections and work permits under an immigration program known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Designed for nationals of countries beset by war, natural disasters or other emergencies, TPS is supposed to be temporary and does not allow beneficiaries to obtain permanent U.S. residency.
Administration officials have been considering granting TPS to Ukrainians in the U.S., but no formal announcements have been made. The White House has repeatedly said the decision involves an interagency process led by the Department of Homeland Security.
An estimated 30,000 Ukrainian-born immigrants in the U.S. could qualify for TPS, including students and others on temporary visas, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
Compared to other countries, U.S. deportations to Ukraine are relatively low. In fiscal year 2020, the last one with available statistics, ICE deported 106 Ukrainians, a slight decrease from fiscal year 2019, when 125 immigrants from Ukraine were deported.
In fiscal year 2020, ICE deported 11 immigrants to Belarus, 44 to Georgia, 44 to Hungary, 17 to Moldova, 263 to Romania, 108 to Russia and 12 to Slovakia, agency records show.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked a growing humanitarian crisis in the region, with more than 1 million refugees fleeing the violence and crossing Ukraine’s borders with its neighbors.
More than half a million people have fled to Poland, 133,000 to Hungary and nearly 100,000 to Moldova, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Slovakia and Romania have received 80,000 and 51,000 refugees, respectively.
