More than 1,000 Ukrainians have come to Alaska since Russia invaded their country in early 2022. Almost all have settled in and are working, but some worry that President-elect Donald Trump will deport them after he’s inaugurated next month.
“It's actually the number 1 question they’re asking: 'What’s going to happen with us?'” Svetlana Kravetz said. “'Are we going to be able to stay here? Temporarily or long-term? Or how long? When is the change coming? When are we going to know?'"
Kravetz and her family arrived in Delta Junction 25 years ago, along with dozens of other Ukrainian families who fled Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union collapsed. Now she runs the local Catholic Social Services office and helps a new wave of Ukrainians find refuge here.
“When first they come, they need a little startup,” she said. “They were very, how do you say it, dependent on public assistance.”
Kravetz and her staff have been helping the Ukrainian newcomers ever since they began arriving in Alaska nearly three years ago. Catholic Social Services helps them find housing and get their kids registered for school, and educates the adults on how to legally work in the country. Kravetz said almost all of them quickly found jobs and settled in.
“And now we have so many families that are off public assistance,” she said. “They're off food stamps. They make their own money. They pay the bills, you know? And they're settling in, contributing to the community.”
But she said the newcomers worry that they’ll have to leave their new home, because Trump has declared that both illegal immigrants and foreign nationals who are authorized to be in America — like the Ukrainians — will be deported soon after he’s sworn-in on Jan. 20. He reiterated that in a speech last month.
“On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America,” Trump declared.
Kravetz said that kind of talk triggers uncertainty among the Ukrainian newcomers.
That concern is shared by the Ukrainians who have come to Alaska over the past couple of years, said Issa Spatrisano. She’s the Alaska Refugee Services Coordinator for Catholic Social Services.
“I think right now, I think everybody … myself and others and clients themselves, are certainly looking to see what those changes may be,” she said. “Because they will have implications on themselves and frankly, on the town of Delta in many ways.”
Unlike undocumented immigrants who’ve entered the country, Spatrisano said the 801 Ukrainian newcomers that Catholic Social Services serves were authorized to come to Alaska. They’re here legally under federal programs that include refugee resettlement and asylum.
She said about 80 of those newcomers have settled in Delta Junction, most of them because they had family here.
“People didn't just stumble into Delta Junction on accident,” she said. “They're here because they had deep family roots here.”
In addition to family ties, Spatrisano said most of the newcomers want to stay in Alaska because they’ve found opportunity here. And Alaska benefits from their skills, she said.
“The state of Alaska unfortunately has been losing working-age adults for over a decade, you know, and the influx of Ukrainians who came into our state were good economic boon to our state,” she said. “Many of them highly skilled labor, many of them coming with skills and talents like construction, welding.”
Igor Zaremba is the mayor of Delta Junction. His family came here from Ukraine in the early 1990s, and he can attest to the newcomers’ work ethic and dedication to the community.
“Quite a few of them are working,” he said. “They're actually buying land and beginning to build houses, like they're planning on staying here.”
Kravetz said she’s seen that happen many times over the past couple of years. She cited a recent example.
"I had a lady with a daughter,” Kravetz said, “she came September 5th, she started working September 10th. Full time.”
Spatrisano hopes Trump administration officials allow the Ukrainian newcomers to remain here, because of their strong work ethic, family ties and love for their new home in Alaska.
“At this point, it's a waiting game,” she said, “and the only thing we know for certain is that the status of those newcomers are at the discretion of the president.”
And so, for the next few weeks, through the holidays and into the new year, the newcomers will continue to wait and watch and hope for the best.
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