The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has suspended programs that allowed immigrants to temporarily settle in the United States, including a key initiative that provided entry opportunities for Ukrainians, reported The New York Times on Friday.
"The directive, contained in an email sent by a senior official from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday and obtained by The New York Times, requires an immediate halt to 'final decisions' on applications related to these programs while the administration reviews them and determines whether to discontinue them," states The New York Times.
Among the affected programs is "Uniting for Ukraine" - an initiative from the Biden administration that allowed Ukrainian immigrants to temporarily enter the U.S. if they had financial sponsors. According to government data, as of September 2023, over 150,000 Ukrainians have entered through this program.