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.