Ukrainian-born Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov is urging President Trump to extend Temporary Protected Status to 100,000 Ukrainians in the US, given the ongoing brutal war Russia has waged against her homeland.
The current TPS designation for Ukraine is set to expire on October 19.
“The United States has stood with the Ukrainian people throughout this devastating conflict. Extending TPS would continue that commitment and ensure that Ukrainians currently in the United States are not sent back to a country where the threat of war remains very real,” Vernikov, a Republican and Trump supporter, said.
Vernikov personally met with Trump in 2022 and his son, Donald Trump Jr. recorded a robocall urging Brooklyn voters to back her first election in 2021.
“The war is still ongoing, Russia continues to attack Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, and civilians remain at risk. Ukraine has not returned to normal conditions in which it would be reasonable to expect people currently protected in the United States to return safely,” Vernikov told the president in a letter.
The TPS designation was last extended to Ukrainian nationals in January 2025 and conditions in the war that first started in 2022 have not changed, the councilwoman said.
“Ukrainians who have built lives in the United States have also become productive members of our communities,” Vernikov said.
“They are working, paying taxes, raising families, supporting local businesses, and contributing to our economy,” she said.
“They should not be forced to choose between returning to an active war zone and abruptly losing the legal protections that allow them to remain and work here.”
The councilwoman called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “terrorist” who “lost his mind” and who wants to “destroy democracy” just days after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
She said Tuesday that extending TPS does not require making a “permanent commitment” to any Ukrainian’s legal immigration status, calling it a “temporary, humanitarian measure that recognizes the reality on the ground while the war continues.”
“I therefore respectfully request that the Department of Homeland Security be directed to extend Ukraine’s TPS designation for an additional 18 months, or for as long as the statutory conditions for TPS continue to be met,” Vernikov said.
Trump recently ended TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians, actions that the US Supreme Court upheld.
The president and DHS will soon determine whether it will provide an extension for Ukrainians or let their TPS designation lapse.
The White House, which is reviewing Vernikov’s letter, had no immediate comment.
Vernikov fondly recalled meeting with Trump after his first term in 2022, posting on social media a picture of herself with the then-former president flashing a thumbs up.
“Grateful to have met with President Trump. He commended me for flipping my seat from Democrat to Republican & we discussed the need to bring back our beloved NYC,” Vernikov wrote on X.
“He expressed his solidarity with the people of Ukraine & sent prayers and love for my constituents from Ukraine,” she said then.
