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Vue normale

Reçu aujourd’hui — 5 août 2025
  • ✇Euromaidan Press
  • ‘It’s not safe to return’: Ukrainian refugees face work permit limbo in US
    Ukrainian refugees work permits are set to expire, leaving many families in legal limbo, CBS News reports. Dozens who fled war and rebuilt their lives in Iowa may soon lose the right to work. Amid Russia’s ongoing invasion, millions of Ukrainians fled the war. While most sought refuge in the EU, some found shelter in the United States. In recent months, Russia has been increasingly targeting Ukrainian cities with air attacks, with Kyiv often bearing the brunt. Iowa town that welcomed refugees no
     
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✇Euromaidan Press

‘It’s not safe to return’: Ukrainian refugees face work permit limbo in US

Par :Yuri Zoria
5 août 2025 à 06:43

‘it’s safe return’ ukrainian refugees face work permit limbo liana avetisian (right) daughter home iowa seen cbs news report dewitt permits set expire leaving many families legal reports dozens fled

Ukrainian refugees work permits are set to expire, leaving many families in legal limbo, CBS News reports. Dozens who fled war and rebuilt their lives in Iowa may soon lose the right to work.

Amid Russia’s ongoing invasion, millions of Ukrainians fled the war. While most sought refuge in the EU, some found shelter in the United States. In recent months, Russia has been increasingly targeting Ukrainian cities with air attacks, with Kyiv often bearing the brunt.

Iowa town that welcomed refugees now fears for their future

CBS News reports that Liana Avetisian and her family fled Ukraine in 2023 and resettled in DeWitt, Iowa, where over 75 refugees found jobs and housing with help from locals like Angela Boelens and her group Iowa Nice.

Avetisian, once a real estate agent in Kyiv, took a job at a window company. Her employer, Sam Heer, told CBS News he values Ukrainian workers and wants more Ukrainians, he said, after hiring Avetisian, her husband, and her cousin—until their permits expired.

“These people are hard to come by. […]  When people do the right things and follow the rules, they should be rewarded,” he added.

Though Heer supported President Trump in 2024, he now urges the administration to reconsider. 

No safe return as war continues in Ukraine

Most European countries have renewed work permits for Ukrainian refugees. But the Trump administration froze all immigration applications from Ukraine and Latin America earlier this year.

Boelens says many more permits will soon expire, pushing families to the edge.

“It’s not safe to go back to Kyiv,” she told CBS News.

Avetisian agrees. Her mother sends her daily videos of Kyiv under attack.

“Every day, every night, it’s bombing,” she said.

Refugees like Avetisian say they only want to stay and keep working in the communities they’ve come to call home.

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