Minnesota‘s Ukrainian immigrant community taking policy changes day-by-day

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Department of Homeland Security officials have ordered a pause for a range of programs that have allowed immigrants to settle in the United States temporarily, including a key program that has provided an expedited entryway for Ukrainians known as Uniting for Ukraine. It’s due to an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The program allows Ukrainian immigrants to enter the United States temporarily if they have financial sponsors. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have entered the U.S. through the program since its launch in April of 2022. Now, many of those immigrants feel as if they are in limbo and are unsure what the future holds.
It’s still unclear how, when or if some of these policies will affect those already living here, but many members of Minnesota’s Ukrainian community are concerned. Minnesota saw an influx of Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Joining MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it’s impacts is Iryna Petrus. She fled Ukraine after Russia invaded and moved to Minnesota in 2022. Petrus now works at the Ukrainian American community center in northeast Minneapolis as a program manager for the Long-Term Care Workforce Program.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
The program allows Ukrainian immigrants to enter the United States temporarily if they have financial sponsors. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have entered the US through the program since it launched in April 2022. Now, many of those immigrants feel as if they are in limbo and are unsure what the future holds.
It's still unclear how, when, or if some of these policies will affect those already living here, but many members of Minnesota's Ukrainian community are concerned. Minnesota, of course, saw an influx of Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Joining me in the studio today is Irina Petras, who fled Ukraine after Russia invaded and moved to Minnesota back in 2022. That's when you and I first met. She now works at the Ukrainian American Community Center in Northeast Minneapolis as a program manager for the Long-Term Care Workforce Program. Thank you for being with us, Irina. It's great to see you.
IRINA PETRAS: Thank you Nina. Good afternoon, everyone.
NINA MOINI: So we met a couple of years ago when I was working on a story about Ukrainians coming here to Minnesota. And you really have to stop and think the past couple of years how things have been for Ukrainians here in Minnesota. And I am curious how you are feeling now that there's a lot of talk about being in this space of limbo and not really knowing what's next.
IRINA PETRAS: Mm-hmm. First of all, I would like to say thank you for being here and to have a chance to speak for myself and my community. But also, I had a similar feeling last Monday as to what I heard in the beginning of war, February 2024. And the feeling that I had last Monday was similar to not being able to cope with stress that comes from information and overwhelming news, that people probably do not have a proper logic how to adjust to those news.
I'm in a lucky position that I speak the language and I have huge support of host families, lawyers that I built around myself. So I felt very sad for those people that sometimes struggle with language. How do they accept that?
But what grounded me very well is that what did I do back then in February 2022? And I remember that we got off all of the news and communication because bombs were everywhere. We did not have cell phone connections. News were crazy. And at some point, everything was off because we didn't have light. And getting deeper into a soul and heart, that's what helped me. But I also understand, that was the way what helped other people.
So meaning all the stress comes from our brain and information, but actually inner peace comes from your peace. And reflecting back, I do feel that a lot of Ukrainians survive, and they-- and we are so strong because we were able to build their inner feeling of everything will be all right, and finding comfort zone. News, rules, everything will be changing daily, sometimes even more often. But how stable we are, that depends on us.
NINA MOINI: That's beautiful. Yeah, you almost have to go in deeper to a place you maybe didn't even know existed. But, of course, all of these problems persist. And for folks who don't know your story, you came here with your daughter, and you two are actually on different programs. She was under Uniting for Ukraine. You were under temporary protected status. Both of these are legal. Both of these are things that the US government put into place. So that's your story.
But then you also do a lot of work with newly arrived ukrainians, and like you mentioned, some of them speak no English. But they are they're in class at the Ukrainian American Center trying to start life here in the US. How is your work changing in the past few weeks under the new administration?
IRINA PETRAS: I'm so proud, Nina, here to share that before coming here, I reached out to my community and made a post saying, hey, I will be on the interview. What would you like me to share with people? And I was deeply touched. I was on my tears that most of the messages that I received, people say, "Irina, please say thank you."
Please say thank you because we were invited here. We survived. We have our kids that are able to live. No matter what, that stress that we went through with war does not stress us. Anything other than that does not stress us more. So I would like United States and countries worldwide to hear this message, that thankful gratitude that countries accepted us the way we are. We don't speak the language. We struggle. We are stressed. We are lost. We don't know what is happening.
But we are here for you. That's what US is showing right now. We are here for you. People got united around us. A lot of people shared their sponsorships. So the main message that I'm bringing from my community-- it's shocking to me. They are not stressed to TPS. They are thankful that they survived because it's war in Ukraine, and most of the people who came here with kids.
And I'm here to tell that United States was always the countries that we would look up, and it still is because of the people. The humankind that dare open up their hearts to us will never be forgotten, and that is the message that I share. Rules will be changed on a daily basis. We acknowledge that, right? We will manage our way. We will do step-by-step understanding the information. What else can we do?
But also, we will never forget that we came here by invitation. We were accepted here. And I am alive. And I am alive. I'm talking for myself and my daughter and the community that I lead. We are thankful. We are accepting the rules, and we will be creative, productive. How do we maintain those rules?
And the shock only comes because of information. It's still unclear. And we don't know. We do not judge. We are-- that's the message that I brought from my community, and I'm thankful for that.
NINA MOINI: You've all looked fear in the face before, certainly, too many times. What about-- so that's one side of life, is the status and the legal and the paperwork. But there are also daily needs. And it's been a few years now. What can people do to continue to support Ukrainians here in Minnesota that fled?
IRINA PETRAS: Oh, very good question. I got lucky to be in a position where I faced to talk to new arrivals from Ukraine on a daily basis, and I am one of those. And it's unique about Ukrainians, that they come to Ukrainian Center and share with me that era, we do not know how to accept things for free. We never faced that way before. We always were productive, creative, how to make our own living.
So they did not ask me for benefits. They asked me for opportunities to work. "Please help us how to work. Please help us with creating programs." I'm very thankful that Ukrainian Center was able to hear refugee needs to get a chance to transform from a cultural center into a refugee shelter, so-called. So we are here to open up.
And I'm here to call all of their big companies, companies who would hire, please hire Ukrainians. Please hire immigrants. We are here to work. Yes, we sometimes we struggle with the language, but we do not struggle with things that have to be done at work. We will easily adjust. That's a big support that we need. Employment. Employment, number one priority right now.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. And this is going to continue to unfold, and things are going to continue to change and evolve, but I feel really good that you're going to be there for your community, and I appreciate you for coming in today.
IRINA PETRAS: Thank you very much, and I'm very thankful to be here, and to be invited to Minneapolis Public Radio, and especially for connection with you, Nina, which is since 2022.
NINA MOINI: Thank you so much. That was Irina Petras, a program manager for the Long-Term Care Workforce Program at the Ukrainian American Community Center in Northeast Minneapolis.
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