‘No decision has been made at this time,’ the White House says.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday refuted a Reuters report claiming that the federal government is moving to revoke the temporary immigration status of 240,000 Ukrainians living in the United States.
The
report, which cited anonymous sources, said that the decision to revoke their status could come “as soon as April” as part of a broader effort to rescind the temporary legal status of people from other countries living in the United States.
Leavitt wrote in a social media
post that “this is more fake news from Reuters based on anonymous sources who have no idea what they are talking about.”
She added, “The truth: no decision has been made at this time.” A screenshot of the Reuters article headline was included in her post.
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive
order that directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “terminate all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in my Executive Orders, including the program known as the ‘Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.’” Trump’s order did not mention Ukrainians.
The previous administration expanded such programs to create temporary legal pathways, aiming to deter illegal immigration and provide what it described as humanitarian relief.
Trump as a presidential candidate pledged to end the programs, saying they went beyond the bounds of U.S. law.
The reports and Leavitt’s response come as the Trump administration is engaging in high-stakes discussions with the Ukrainian government and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about a plan to end the war with Russia.
Late last week, Trump and Zelenskyy had a
public disagreement in the White House as the president accused his Ukrainian counterpart of not expressing sufficient gratitude after receiving billions of dollars in U.S. military aid.
On Monday, the Trump administration paused U.S. military aid to Ukraine. On Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz,
confirmed the pause and stated that U.S. intelligence cooperation with Kyiv had also been halted.
A top aide to Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak,
said later that day that talks between Ukraine and the U.S. government on the peace and mineral rights deal would soon resume.
“We also exchanged views on security issues and the alignment of positions within the framework of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States,” he said. “We have scheduled a meeting for our teams in the near future to continue this important work.”
In his address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump said he received a letter from Zelenskyy, indicated that he appreciated the letter, and said that he believes Ukraine is ready to sign a deal.
The White House and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not respond to The Epoch Times’ requests for additional comment.
