A Brooklyn city councilwoman born in Ukraine is asking President Trump to extend Temporary Protected Status for roughly 100,000 Ukrainians whose legal shield against deportation is set to expire on October 19. Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican who represents Brighton Beach and other heavily Ukrainian pockets of southern Brooklyn, sent a letter to Trump requesting DHS extend Ukraine's TPS designation for another 18 months or for as long as the underlying conditions justifying it remain in place.
Vernikov's appeal, first reported by the New York Post, lands just before the government's own legal clock runs out. Under Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Department of Homeland Security must decide whether to extend or terminate TPS at least 60 days before it expires, which according to the National Immigration Forum puts August 20 as the statutory deadline tied to Ukraine's October 19 expiration date. Ukraine's TPS designation was last extended in January 2025, and the White House told the Post it had no immediate comment but confirmed the letter was under review.
“Ukrainians should not have to choose between returning to an active war zone and losing the legal protections that allow them to remain and work in the United States,” Vernikov wrote, according to the Post's reporting. She argued that Russia continues attacking Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure while civilians remain at risk, and that the country has not returned to conditions safe enough for the protected population to go back.
A Legal Deadline Shaped by Recent Supreme Court Action
The timing is not incidental. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe on June 25 that federal law severely restricts judicial review of DHS decisions to terminate TPS, effectively clearing the way for the administration to end protections without lower court stays, per the Supreme Court's own June ruling. Trump has already ended TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians, a move the Post notes the Supreme Court upheld.
Since that ruling, DHS has moved through a string of terminations: Somalia's TPS designation ended on August 14, and Ethiopia's followed just four days later, according to USCIS. Those actions form the backdrop against which Vernikov is making her case that Ukraine should be treated differently while the war continues. USCIS did soften one immediate concern for Ukrainian TPS holders, issuing an alert on August 14 automatically extending pending Employment Authorization Documents through October 19 so eligible workers avoid disruption while a final decision is pending.
Little Odessa's Stake in the Outcome
The neighborhoods Vernikov represents have among the highest concentrations of Ukrainian immigrants in the country. The New York City Department of City Planning has found that southern Brooklyn areas including Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, and Gravesend hold the city's largest Ukrainian immigrant population, with foreign-born residents making up 71% of Brighton Beach's total population. Vernikov herself immigrated from Ukraine at age 12 and ran an immigration and family law practice before entering politics, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
She argued in her letter that Ukrainians who have built lives in the United States contribute by working, paying taxes, raising families, supporting local businesses, and contributing to the economy, describing them as productive members of their communities. Vernikov said extending TPS would continue U.S. support for Ukrainians and prevent their return to a country where the threat of war remains real, while framing the request as a temporary humanitarian measure rather than a permanent commitment to Ukrainian immigration status.
A Personal Political Relationship With Trump
Vernikov was elected to the City Council in November 2021, flipping a historically Democratic seat, and serves as Minority Whip for the council's Republican contingent, per Ballotpedia's account of her political record. Donald Trump Jr. recorded a robocall supporting her first election bid that year, and Vernikov met with the president himself in 2022 to discuss local policy and support for her constituency. She has written that Trump commended her for flipping her seat and discussed restoring New York City, and that he expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine and sent prayers and love to her Ukrainian constituents in a social media post that year.
Roughly 101,150 Ukrainian nationals held approved TPS as of early 2025, making Ukraine the fourth-largest TPS population behind Venezuela, Haiti, and El Salvador, per the National Immigration Forum's tally of DHS and USCIS records. TPS is one of the few remaining legal pathways left for many displaced Ukrainians after the Trump administration indefinitely suspended new entries and re-parole processing under the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parole program in January 2025 — a program that had brought more than 280,000 Ukrainians into the country since 2022.
Congress Weighing a Backup Plan
Federal lawmakers have already floated an alternative in case executive protections lapse. Early last year, legislators introduced the Protecting our Guests During Hostilities in Ukraine Act, which would create a temporary guest status with automatic work authorization tied to active hostilities rather than relying on standard 18-month TPS renewals, according to a release tied to Senator Durbin's office. Whether that legislation gains traction remains an open question, as does whether DHS will issue a formal decision on Ukraine's designation by the statutory deadline or let the window close without action.
Hoodline previously reported on early TPS deliberations affecting Ukrainian refugees, and has also covered Vernikov's advocacy on other local immigration-related fights in her district, including her formal objections to a proposed shelter in Sheepshead Bay. For now, the fate of TPS for tens of thousands of her constituents rests with President Trump and DHS, who Vernikov's letter says will ultimately determine whether the designation is extended or allowed to lapse.
.jpg){kind=link}