The Council of Ukrainian Christian Churches of Washington State has appealed to senior U.S. officials and elected representatives to support the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status for Ukraine. Letters were addressed to President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and U.S. Representatives from Washington.
Ukrainian Christian Leaders asked the Department of Homeland Security to extend TPS for Ukraine for 18 months, from October 20, 2026, through April 19, 2028. It also requested that Ukraine be redesignated for TPS with January 20, 2025, as the new continuous-residence date, allowing Ukrainian families who arrived during the later stages of the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian program to qualify.
“The conditions that justified TPS have not ended,” the letter states. “Russia’s full-scale war continues, and there is still no reliably safe region in Ukraine to which Ukrainians can return.”
The appeal notes that Russian missiles and drones continue to strike residential buildings, schools, hospitals, churches, energy facilities, and transportation infrastructure throughout Ukraine, including cities far from the front line. Citing a recent UNHCR statement, the Council of Churches emphasized: “These attacks remind us that no area is safe in Ukraine.”
According to the Council of Churches, an 18-month TPS extension would provide Ukrainian families with a predictable period of stability, allowing parents to retain their jobs, employers to retain trained workers, children to remain in their schools, and families to continue paying taxes and meeting their financial obligations in the United States.
The letter also stresses that many Ukrainians who arrived under the Uniting for Ukraine program in 2023 and 2024 are excluded from the current TPS designation. Re-parole, the Council of Churches states, is temporary and discretionary, and does not provide the same statutory protection from removal as TPS does. Redesignation would provide eligible Ukrainians with uniform protection from removal and stable employment authorization while a safe return remains impossible.
The appeal was signed by Pastor Oleksandr Savchuk, Chair of the Council of Ukrainian Christian Churches of Washington State, and by clergy representing Ukrainian Christian congregations across the state. It emphasizes that Ukrainian families are not seeking permanent status through TPS, but a defined period of safety during which they can remain self-supporting and continue contributing to American communities.
Photo Credit: Jim Lo Scalzo (EPA-EFE)