The US has done much to open its doors to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the brutal Russian invasion that began almost exactly one year ago. Since that time, over 100,000 Ukrainians have entered the United States under different statuses.

       Ukrainians admitted under the Uniting for Ukraine program are granted residency and work rights for two years after arrival. For the earliest program participants, those rights will expire in April or May 2024. More will lose legal status thereafter. Ukrainians who reached the US before April 11, 2022 have been given Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which offers similar residency and work permits. But TPS for Ukrainians is currently scheduled to expire on October 19 of this year.

      We have to act soon, majority of Ukrainians admitted over the last year have so far been given only a temporary right to live and work in the United States. When their time limits expire, they could be subject to deportation, or at least be unable to work legally.

       War in Ukraine will not be over by 2024, thereby enabling refugees to return home. But it is increasingly clear the war might well last much longer than that. Experience with past refugee crises shows that many migrants are (for good reason) unable or unwilling to return to their countries of origin even when the war ends where their former homes and places of employment have been completely destroyed.

       We are people from all across the world who are asking the US President and Congress to pass a Ukrainian Adjustment Act, giving Ukrainian migrants who have entered into the United States during the war the right of permanent residency and work status.

       Giving recent Ukrainian refugees the right to permanent residency in the US will avert potential tragedy for them, and benefit the US economy.

Thank you and God Bless America!