Two Ukrainians have been arrested in the US on charges of illegally voting in the 2024 US presidential election, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said.
“During the presidency of Donald Trump, if you come to our country and break our laws, you will face consequences,” Noem wrote in social network X, noting that the Ukrainians were detained in cooperation with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is headed by Ilon Musk, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The minister did not give any other details.
The Ukrainian embassy in the USA has not yet commented on the situation.
Earlier this year, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service announced the suspension of the programme for accepting refugees, including Ukrainians fleeing to the USA from the war, in whose interests the United for Ukraine (U4U) programme was approved.
Acceptance of applications has stopped until the Service reviews all requests that have already been submitted, the report said.
On 20 January, President Trump signed an executive order “protecting our borders”. In it, among other things, the president directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust asylum programmes for people coming to the U.S. and to stop asylum programmes that are contrary to U.S. policy.
As of March 2023, more than 118,000 Ukrainians have come to the US under the U4U programme.