February 25, 2022
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20500
The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
301 7th St, SW
Washington, DC 20528
The Honorable Antony Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St, NW
Washington, DC 20520
RE: URGENT REQUEST FOR NEW 18-MONTH DESIGNATIONS OF TPS OR DED
AND SSR FOR UKRAINE
Dear President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas and Secretary Blinken,
The below 177 organizations request an immediate 18-month designation of Temporary
Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Special Student Relief (SSR)
for Ukraine. Escalating violence and the devolving humanitarian crisis post-Russian militaryinvasion makes it impossible for Ukrainians currently in the U.S. to safely return to Ukraine at
this time. Migration Policy Institute estimates that roughly 30,000 Ukrainians in the UnitedStates would be potential beneficiaries of TPS or DED, as they do not have U.S. citizenship or
permanent status.1I.

TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS), DEFERRED ENFORCED
DEPARTURE (DED, AND SPECIAL STUDENT RELIEF (SSR)

TPS is a statutory status that allows people from a designated country to remain in the UnitedStates while conditions in their home country make safe return impossible.2 The Secretary of theU.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can designate a country for TPS if conditions inthat country meet the requirements regarding ongoing armed conflict, natural disaster, or otherextraordinary and temporary conditions preventing a safe return.3 These requirements areoutlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).4 Those who are granted TPS are eligible
to receive work permits and remain in the United States during the designation period.
Significantly, TPS can safeguard those who have been denied or may be ineligible for asylum but
are still in need of lifesaving protection.

1

Julia Gelatt, Twitter Post, Migration Policy Institute, February 24, 2022,
https://twitter.com/J_Gelatt/status/1496964648188456964.
2
Temporary Protected Status, USCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status.
3Id.
4
INA §244.

DED is rooted in the President’s authority to conduct foreign affairs and is a critical foreign
policy tool to provide humanitarian protection.5 Like TPS, DED provides protection fromdeportation and eligibility for work permits for designated time periods.6
SSR may be granted to students from a designated country under an emergent circumstances
designation.7 The Secretary of DHS may give this designation to F-1 students facing unforeseen,
severe economic hardship.8 This hardship must result from an emergent event, such as war or
military conflict.9 SSR allows eligible students to remain in the U.S. by suspending or alteringrules regarding status, full course of study, and work eligibility during the designation period.10
SSR, like TPS, provides life-saving protection.
The “extraordinary and temporary conditions” which would qualify Ukrainians in the UnitedStates for TPS include current armed conflict. The “severe economic hardship” that would
qualify Ukrainian F-1 students is the emergent armed conflict. The country conditions analysis
below will demonstrate that conditions in Ukraine merit TPS and SSR designations due toarmed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions as a return to the country would
pose a serious threat to the personal safety of Ukrainians. The below described conditions also
make a clear policy argument for DED.
II.

UKRAINE’S ARMED CONFLICTOn February 23, 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine and advanced toward thecapital in Kyiv.11 The Ukrainian government reported 40 casualties within the first 12 hours ofthe invasion.12 As the situation continues to devolve, it will prove difficult if not impossible for
Ukrainians to safely return to the country in the immediate future.
On February 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of State issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory toUkraine.13 In the advisory, the Department of State wrote that “U.S. citizens in Ukraine should
be aware that the U.S. government will not be able to evacuate U.S. citizens in the event ofRussian military action anywhere in Ukraine. Military action may commence at any time andwithout warning and would also severely impact the U.S. Embassy’s ability to provide consular
5Jill Wilson, Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, Congressional ResearchService, RS20844 (August 9, 2021), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS20844.
6Id.
7Special Student Relief, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, accessed February 24, 2022,
https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/students/special-student-relief.
8Id.
9Emergent Circumstances versus Temporary Protected Status: What is the Difference?, Department ofHomeland Security (Nov. 8, 2021),
https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2017/11/emergent-circumstances-versus-temporary-protected-status-w
hat-difference.
10
Special Student Relief, Department of Homeland Security,
https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/students/special-student-relief.
11Statement by President Biden on Russia’s Unprovoked and Unjustified Attack on Ukraine, The WhiteHouse (Feb. 23, 2022),
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/23/statement-by-president-bi
den-on-russias-unprovoked-and-unjustified-attack-on-ukraine/.
12
Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Has Suffered 'Serious Losses' After Russian Air Strikes Pound Dozens Of
Targets, Radio Free Europe (Feb. 24, 2022),
https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-ukraine-military-operation/31719680.html.
13
Ukraine Travel Advisory, Department of State (Feb. 12, 2022),
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/ukraine-travel-advisory.htm.

services, including assistance to U.S. citizens in departing Ukraine.”14 On February 13, 2022, theDepartment of State suspended consular services at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the capital ofUkraine, and moved them to Lviv, further from the Russian border.15
Senior Biden administration officials briefed lawmakers on February 3, 2022, warning that a fullinvasion could result in potential deaths of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, 5,000 to 25,000
members of the Ukrainian military, and 3,000 to 10,000 members of the Russian army.16
Officials also estimated that it would produce one million to five million refugees.17 The humancosts of armed conflict are clear and will contribute to current humanitarian crises in thecountry. There are already almost 1.5 million internally displaced people in Ukraine fromconflict.18 Last year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) estimated that 3.4 million people living in Ukraine need humanitarian assistance.19 The
Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) called for $168 million to assist 1.9 million people
in 2021.20 However, in August 2021, the Ukraine HRP was only 27 percent funded,demonstrating a level of unmet need even before the current military invasion.21
Given the already unmet humanitarian need in the country and the effects of armed conflict withRussia, Ukraine is in no state to receive TPS/DED and SSR eligible Ukrainians. Returning theseUkrainians to an at-war country would further destabilize the precarious conditions. For thisreason, TPS/DED and SSR for Ukraine support humanitarian interests and address U.S. foreign
policy goals by alleviating pressure on the Ukrainian government while the crisis is underway
and help stabilize Europe by not adding to the predicted refugee crisis. Returning thesenationals to the country poses a serious threat to their personal safety.
III.

CONCLUSION

Ukraine is in the middle of armed conflict contributing to deteriorating country conditions andhumanitarian crises. We urge the administration to: (1) immediately designate TPS or DED andSSR for Ukraine, (2) publish timely Federal Register Notices, and (3) launch a public
information campaign to notify the impacted community of the decision and any actions theymust take by the decision’s announcement.
Please contact the following individuals to discuss this urgent matter: Matthew La Corte,Niskanen Center at mlacorte@niskanencenter.org, Lora Adams, TPS-DED Administrative
Advocacy Coalition at lora@masadc.com, Catharine Christie, U.S. Committee for Refugees and14

Id.
Consular Services Suspended at U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Department of State (Feb. 15, 2022),
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/suspension-of-consular-services-at-US-embassy-Kyiv.html.
16
Helene Cooper and David E. Sanger, U.S. Warns of Grim Toll if Putin Pursues Full Invasion of Ukraine,
New York Times (Feb. 5, 2022),
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/us/politics/russia-ukraine-invasion.html.
17
Id.
18
Обліковано 1 473 650 внутрішньо переміщених осіб; Ukraine: Internally Displaced Persons,UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en/internally-displaced-persons.
19
Humanitarian Needs Overview 2021: Ukraine, OCHA (Feb.
2021),https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/hno_2021-eng_-_2021-02-09.pdf
20
Ukraine Humanitarian Funding Priorities (Aug. - Dec. 2021), OCHA (Aug. 18, 2021),
https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-humanitarian-funding-priorities-august-december-2021-en
uk.
21
Id.
15

Immigrants at cchristie@uscrimail.org, and Lisa Parisio, Catholic Legal Immigration Network,Inc., at lparisio@cliniclegal.org.
Sincerely,
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