US lawmakers call to extend immigration protections for Ukrainian refugees as renewal deadline looms
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Democratic and Republican U.S. senators introduced legislation on Sept. 23 to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukrainian refugees weeks before the measures are set to expire.
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Lisa Murkowski, Chris Coons, and Bill Cassidy proposed the extension.
“Ukrainians seeking safety here are fleeing unimaginable horror at home – bloody missile and drone strikes, ruthless kidnapping of children, a cold winter without heat," Blumenthal said in a press release. Forcing their return to such cruel conditions would be the height of inhumanity."
TPS, a legal immigration status granted to foreign citizens who are unable to return safely to their home countries, was originally granted to Ukrainians in April 2022 following the Russian full-scale invasion. The designation is currently set to expire on Oct. 19.
As of February 2026, more than 101,000 Ukrainians hold TPS designations, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
With a TPS status, immigrants in the U.S. cannot be deported by federal authorities, such as ICE, and have the right to work in the country. The designation does not provide a path to permanent U.S. citizenship. Currently, immigrants from El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela are eligible for TPS.
"We should not force Ukrainians who we allowed into the U.S. and who are here legally and contributing to our communities back into an active war zone," Murkowski said. "This legislation will provide them with the stability and protection they need to continue to live and work here until it is safe to return home."
The extension comes after a push by the Trump administration over the summer to limit TPS designations.
Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 25 that cleared the way for the administration to end TPS, immigrants from Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Haiti were stripped of their temporary protections. The new wave of deportation spurred by the ruling has endangered the lives of returning immigrants, according to Human Rights Watch.
