Telepeer

Local Ukrainian family faces uncertainty as immigration policies hang in the balance

March 15, 2025

Oleksandr (Aleks) Gladushko believed his family had found stability in the U.S.

Gladushko, his wife and their son fled Ukraine in April 2022, just months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, arriving in Southern California with everything they could fit into two trunks. They were welcomed by an Orange County family and began piecing together a new life — finding work, enrolling their son in school and even welcoming a new baby.

Now, they’re staring down an uncertain future.

“We came here because the U.S. welcomed us. Now, we don’t know what will happen,” Gladushko said. “It’s making us nervous.”

The future of their legal status — tied to the Biden administration’s immigration policies — is uncertain.

The Gladushkos arrived through Uniting for Ukraine (U4U), a Biden-era program that allowed Ukrainians fleeing war to enter the U.S. on humanitarian parole, granting them temporary stay and work authorization. Another program, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), established by Congress under the Immigration Act of 1990, provides similar protections for Ukrainians already in the U.S., allowing them to stay without fear of deportation and work legally.

Gladushko is in the country solely under the U4U program, while his son and Tatiana, his wife, also have TPS status. Gladushko said his TPS application, which he submitted last year while former President Joe Biden was still in office, has been pending for reasons he does not know.

But President Donald Trump has said he’s looking at whether to revoke TPS for Ukrainians, raising fears that thousands could lose their legal status.

And during his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to end humanitarian parole programs for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan immigrants that were introduced under the Biden administration, citing concerns over national security and fraud.

It’s still unclear if Ukranians like Gladushko, who is a part of the U4U program, will be affected in the same way. But in late January, the Trump administration announced a pause on new applications for the U4U program while it reviews all humanitarian parole programs.

For families like the Gladushkos, this uncertainty is overwhelming. Gladushko said his wife and son’s TPS status, along with his work authorization under U4U, are set to expire in April.

In January, when the Biden administration extended TPS for Ukrainians through Oct. 19, 2026, Gladushko said he applied for that extension for his wife and son. The family has not yet received a response, he said.

Gladushko said there is no renewal for the U4U program that he can apply for. Instead, he’s still waiting on a TPS response.

“Before, USCIS, as soon as you apply, in one or two weeks, they sent back a receipt with a number. … Now, I cannot check the status of my application on the website because I have no receipt number,” he said.

Lydia Korostelova, a Ukrainian-born immigration attorney based in Virginia, said the lack of response from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services could be due to the Trump administration’s reported pause on all immigration applications from migrants from Latin America and Ukraine admitted under specific Biden-era programs. CBS News reported in February that in a memo dated Feb. 14, a top USCIS official ordered a pause on all “pending benefit requests.”

Without these programs, the Gladushkos’ legal ability to remain in the U.S. will effectively expire, and Gladushko won’t be able to renew his driver’s license — or legally work.

“I have nothing to show to the DMV,” he said.

However, Korostelova also noted that there is no confirmed policy yet.

“I’ve been in conversation with other attorneys, and we haven’t seen (the memo). It’s from a credible source, but it’s alleged,” Korostelova said.

When the Gladushkos arrived in Southern California, they connected with Bruce and Terri Sargeant, a couple in Orange who had listed their home on Ukraine Take Shelter, a platform created by two Harvard students to match displaced Ukrainians with American sponsors.

“They’re like part of the family now,” Bruce Sargeant said. “Christmas, Thanksgiving, they spend with us.”

The Gladushkos stayed with the Sargeants for six months before moving into a nearby condo the Sargeants own. Gladushko, a former lawyer in Ukraine, found part-time work at a local immigration law firm. Their 15-year-old son settled into school and sports.

Going back to Ukraine, Gladushko said, is not an option.

“The war is still ongoing. Even if they stop the war, the inertia will keep going,” he said. “It’s like when you’re driving a car … if the car is going very fast, even if you step on the brakes, you won’t stop immediately.”

There’s also his son.

“Our son, he’s 15. If we go back to Ukraine, he’ll have a duty to serve in the military,” Gladushko said. “It will be risky.”

For the Sargeants, watching the uncertainty unfold has been devastating.

“They’re good, honest people that deserve everything the U.S. should give them,” Terri Sargeant said.

Hosting the Gladushkos has “opened our eyes,” said Bruce Sargeant, wiping away a tear.

“We became aware of the Ukrainian community in Orange County … and how much we depend on immigrants. Not just from Ukraine, but how hardworking immigrants can be, and how much I appreciate what they’ve done for our country,” said Terri Sargeant.

Bruce Sargeant said he doesn’t understand why families like the Gladushkos are now in limbo.

“There’s a big difference between people trying to come in illegally, which is supposed to be the intent of some of these immigration reforms, right? Here’s an example of people who are doing everything right,” he said. “They’re following all the rules. And yet, they risk getting deported.”

Michael Bazyler, who teaches international law at Chapman University, said the possibility that Ukrainian refugees could lose their legal status could affect up to 240,000 people who came to the U.S. under emergency measures. Unlike official refugees — who must prove they’re fleeing persecution from their own government — Ukrainians who arrived after Feb. 24, 2022, were given humanitarian parole, which allows them to stay temporarily but doesn’t lead to a green card.

“These people were living normal lives, not very different from the lives that we live. They had homes, they had professions, they had children going to school, they had vacations,” Bazyler said. “And on Feb. 24, 2022, everything changed.”

Bazyler, who created the Ukrainian Mothers and Children Transport, a legal aid project providing emergency legal assistance to fleeing Ukrainian families, said he has a personal stake in the crisis. He’s the son of Holocaust survivors from Ukraine.

“My mom fled Ukraine, just like these people fled Ukraine,” he said. “It’s a terrible situation that the Ukrainians who have fled the war are in now. They really don’t know from day to day what the immigration authorities under the Trump administration will do.”

The Sargeants say they feel helpless.

“We don’t want to be hopeless … but we feel pretty helpless,” Terri Sargeant said. “Victims of war should not be the target again.”

It’s unclear if USCIS will resume processing applications for any of the Biden-era programs. When reached, a USCIS spokesperson declined to comment.

For the Gladushkos, there is no backup plan.

“We came here looking for safe lives, not better lives,” Aleks Gladushko said. “We came here because the U.S., and our sponsors, welcomed us. But I definitely don’t want to stay here being illegal. That’s not my way. So if that happens, of course, we will figure out what to do.”

For now, he said he’s simply waiting on a decision that could determine whether his family can stay in the country that took them in.

And as that decision drags on, so does the uncertainty.

Orange County Register

News Details

Local Ukrainian family faces uncertainty as immigration policies hang in the balance

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS