Inserts:

00:03 Report / Misha Komadovsky
01:36 Iryna Mazur / Immigration lawyer
02:45 Iryna Mazur / Immigration lawyer
03:26 Donald Trump / US President
03:33 Misha Komadovsky / DW Correspondent / Washington, D.C.

LOCATION: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

00:00
Olha tried her best to endure life in war-time Ukraine. But a year after Russia’s fullscale invasion, fear and the constant air raids forced her to leave her hometown of Poltava in Central Ukraine. She packed up and moved to the US in 2023.

00:17
+++ Olha, ukranian +++
It’s incredibly painful. Because you realize that, most likely, you’ve lost everything you had in your life. Things will never be the same again—that’s 100 percent certain. Maybe you’ve come to accept that. But what I want to say to every person—not just Ukrainians, but Russians, Europeans, Americans—we must remain human. We must understand what’s happening. Because no one has the right to kill simply because they feel like it. +++

00:51
Olha arrived on a Biden-era program, known as humanitarian parole, which let Ukrainians stay and work for up to two years, with the possibility of an extension. She rebuilt her life in Pittsburgh—learned English, found a home, and started working at a hotel.

But when her work permit expired this year, she lost her job and apartment, and now relies on friends and savings.

When President Donald Trump returned to power, his administration paused all applications from parole holders, including Ukrainians. Those with expired entry permits now have to leave the U.S., while others are losing their jobs as their work permits run out.

That's why Olha is in limbo. Her future depends on whether the government restarts the program.

01:35
LOCATION: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
+++ Iryna Mazur, Immigration lawyer +++
When Trump's administration announced a pause of renewing all of the applications filed by parolees in the United States, it created a huge bubble, and later, when the pause was lifted , now the cases are processed, but it takes a very, very long time to review such amount of documents got accumulated over six months.+++

01:58
Ukrainians who legally arrived and are still eligible for the program - but have lost their work permits ((like Olha)) now face a tough choice: live without income or leave the U.S. voluntarily — a situation some call “forced self-deportation.”

02:15
+++ Olha Smuk, ukranian +++
These people entered the country legally. They got on a plane, they were screened by officers, they received their documents. To get a work permit and a job, you have to go through a full background check—including a criminal history review. You understand what I mean. The people who are here are law-abiding. They work. I don’t know a single person who just sits around doing nothing. That’s simply not realistic. +++

02:45
LOCATION: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
+++ Iryna Mazur, Immigration lawyer +++
You don't have to find logic in the current position of the US government. Trump's administration just doesn't want to see a particular class of immigrants, parolees, and it happens that Ukrainians just fit right into that class.+++

02:59
With the Trump administration already cracking down on immigration, The Department of Homeland Security sent mass emails in April to Ukrainians, saying their status had changed. It gave them seven days to leave—without even addressing individuals. The message sparked fear and confusion, but a spokesperson later called it a mistake. So where does the administration stand now?

03:18
+++ Donald Trump, U.S. President +++
 — Will you let those Ukrainians who fled the war stay in the United States until the war ends? 
— Trump: I think we will. We have a lot of people who came in from Ukraine. We’re working with them."+++

03:30
LOCATION: Washington, DC
+++ Misha Komadovsky, Correspondent +++
A bipartisan group of legislators has urged the Trump administration to let Ukrainians with humanitarian paroles apply for a green card, but the bill’s fate is uncertain—and many may have to leave long before it passes or the war ends. Olha says her journey is far from over. +++

03:50
+++ Olha, ukranian+++
Translation: I will fight for the right to stay—for as long as the war lasts, 100 percent. Why am I here? Because there’s a war in my home country! +++

04:00
Olha hopes to return to a peaceful Ukraine one day, but for now, staying in the U.S. is her only option.

04:07