The president said no final decision has been made on issues affecting 240,000 Ukrainians in the country.
President Donald Trump said on March 6 that he was considering whether to withdraw his temporary protected status for the thousands of Ukrainians who fled to the United States during the country’s war with Russia.
Trump has reiterated that his administration is considering a move.
“We’re not trying to hurt anyone. We’re certainly not looking to hurt them,” Trump told reporters in the oval office. “And I’m watching it, and there were a few people who thought it was appropriate.
The president said that Ukrainians have “explained a lot” since the war began.
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President Joe Biden has expanded these types of programs to create temporary legal pathways using them as humanitarian relief.
Trump campaigned to end these programs, saying it went beyond U.S. law.
His administration is also pursuing other actions that limit temporary legal pathways, including the suspension of refugee programs and the temporary protected status of around 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem, who ordered the suspension in Venezuela on January 28th, said the action “indicates that we are not going to track what (Biden) did to tie our hands. We are going to follow the process and evaluate all of these individuals in our country, including the Venezuelans here.”
Trump’s consideration of revoking the temporary protected status of Ukrainians is because his administration is engaged in high stake negotiations with Ukrainian President Voldy Zelensky in a ceasefire plan to end the Russian-Ukraine war.
Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
