A U.S. senator from Connecticut Friday said the country should be doing more to help Ukrainian citizens who are stuck in what has now become a war zone.
“We need to do more to help rescue Ukrainians in need,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D) said in a tweet while thanking Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Thank you @SecMayorkas for your prompt action.
But this is just one step. We need to do more to help rescue Ukrainians in need. https://t.co/D8LuRcgRbs
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 4, 2022
Mayorkas announced Friday that the United States will offer Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Ukrainians in the United States, so they do not have to return to war-torn Ukraine where Russian forces are quickly advancing.
TPS is an “immigration status provided to nationals of certain countries experiencing problems that make it difficult or unsafe for their nationals to be deported to those countries,” according to the American Immigration Council.
“TPS has been a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of individuals already in the United States when problems in a home country make their departure or deportation untenable,” it says.
Reached for comment, Murphy’s spokeswoman Rebecca Drago told The Connecticut Star Friday afternoon that Murphy will be elaborating on what it means to “do more” to help Ukrainians in need. She said that he will hold a press conference Monday afternoon at the State Office Building in Hartford to elaborate.
According to reports, the United Nations (UN) estimates that 400,000 Ukrainians have fled the nation since the conflict began two weeks ago. More than 4 million could flee, according to the UN.
Ukraine’s population exceeds 44 million, and President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered anyone, including foreigners, who wish to defend the country from Russian aggression an open invitation to take up arms and fight alongside his military.
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to “safe corridors” for citizens to evacuate the country while the war rages.
It was reported Friday that President Joe Biden spoke with Zelensky after a massive fire broke out at a nuclear power plant called Zaporizhzhia. That power plant was reportedly targeted by Russian forces.
Kherson became the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces earlier this week.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Connecticut Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Chris Murphy” by Estonian Foreign Ministry. CC BY 2.0. Background Photo “Ukrainian Refugees” by Mirek Pruchnicki. CC BY 2.0.
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