United States Deports 50 Individuals to Ukraine
The United States deported 50 individuals to Ukraine this week, as confirmed by a Ukrainian border official on Tuesday. This marks the largest single deportation from the U.S. to Ukraine since the onset of the conflict with Russia in 2022. The flight arrived near the Polish border during the early hours of Monday.
Deportation Statistics and Context
Since Russia's invasion in 2022, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported a total of 105 Ukrainian nationals. The latest available data indicates that 13 of these deportations occurred in the last quarter of 2024.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, stated that U.S. authorities had originally intended to include 80 individuals on the flight. This initial list reportedly contained at least one person whom Ukraine had previously been unable to recognize as a citizen. The reason for the discrepancy between the planned 80 individuals and the 50 who were ultimately deported remains unclear.
Concerns and Legal Framework
Immigration lawyers have voiced concerns that individuals deported to Ukraine could face conscription into military service, as Ukrainian men aged 25 to 60 are eligible for drafting. While U.S. law permits deportations, both domestic and international statutes prohibit sending individuals to locations where they may encounter violence, persecution, or torture.
Previous U.S. administrations have established agreements with several nations, including South Sudan, Libya, Eswatini, Rwanda, and El Salvador, for the reception of deportees. Reports indicate that six of the eight men deported to South Sudan earlier in the year remain there, according to their legal representatives, while some individuals deported to other countries have reportedly been imprisoned.
Official Statements
Andrii Demchenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Service, informed NPR that border guards ensured the registration of the arriving individuals in accordance with established entry regulations. He affirmed that "Ukraine accepts its citizens in any case." The Ukrainian embassy did not provide comments regarding the fate of individuals deported to the country.
Ambassador Stefanishyna issued a statement to NPR, noting that "deportation is a widely used legal mechanism provided for by the immigration laws of most countries around the world. It is a routine procedure applied to all foreign nationals and stateless persons who violate the terms of their stay in the United States, regardless of their nationality."
Individual Case: Roman Surovtsev
Eric Lee, an immigration lawyer representing a client who was initially slated for the flight, indicated that detainees include individuals who have resided in the U.S. since childhood, possess U.S. citizen spouses and children, and in some instances, do not speak Ukrainian or are not Ukrainian citizens, having been born in the Soviet Union.
One of Lee's clients, Roman Surovtsev, was transferred through several detention centers in Texas in preparation for deportation to Ukraine. Surovtsev, who lived in Dallas with his U.S. citizen wife and two children, was born in the Soviet Union and arrived in the U.S. as a refugee. He lost his green card as a teenager after pleading guilty to a carjacking offense in California.
U.S. authorities had previously attempted to deport Surovtsev to Ukraine, but these efforts were unsuccessful due to Ukraine's inability to provide the required travel documents. Surovtsev was detained during a routine check-in with ICE in August after years of compliance. ICE subsequently presented him with deportation documents written in Ukrainian, a language he does not speak.
Surovtsev's legal team successfully vacated his conviction and is pursuing the reinstatement of his green card. Despite these legal efforts, he remained in detention. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown initially blocked his removal until January 13, but subsequently reversed her decision. Hours before the deportation flight, an immigration court stayed Surovtsev's deportation, and his case was reopened in immigration court, resulting in him not being deported.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that Surovtsev had received due process and was ordered removed by an immigration judge on November 4, 2014. The spokesperson added that under current policy, individuals who violate the law will face consequences, and "Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S."