By Chris Faulkner
Larysa Volovod and her daughter, Alina, came to the United States almost two years ago from Ukraine to escape the perils of their country’s war with Russia.
Burlington residents Laura and Jim Francisco sponsored them.
Larysa’s husband, Andrey, had to stay back, along with most men between the ages of 18 to 60, according to a government dictate.
Mother and daughter fell in love with the city of Burlington and quickly built a life in their adopted hometown. Alina even recently won the local Iowa League of Cities’ contest with her essay entitled “If I Were Mayor of Burlington.”
But in late February, President Donald Trump put on pause the processing of several applications for those from Ukraine and a few other countries, including the renewal of the Volovods and other immigrants’ Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
If the restriction isn’t lifted by June 2, 2025 — the two-year anniversary of Larysa and Alina’s arrival — they, along with many others, will be deported back to their countries of origin.
But Larysa and Alina’s home was destroyed seven weeks ago. So the Volovod family will be sent to a refugee camp along with other displaced Ukrainians.
Even the city of Kostyantynifka itself is no place to return to, Larysa said.
“There is practically no infrastructure in the city, no hospitals; schools and kindergartens are destroyed,” she said.
Before the war, the population of Kostyantinifka was 80,000. Between war casualties and those emigrating, there are only 11,000 residents remaining.
Larysa has been working up to 70 hours a week at Shearer’s — not just for rent and other bills, but to send money back to Andrey.
“I’m very worried right now,” Larysa said, “so I’m wondering how I could be left without work. Legally, I can be here while I’m waiting for Temporary Protected Status.”
But, she said, she can’t get an extension while the processing is on pause. That also goes for immigrants wanting to apply for asylum or for a green card as a path to American citizenship.
Bob Bartels is one of the volunteers who has helped coordinate the U4U (United 4 Ukraine) program. He said there are 208 Ukrainians being sponsored in southeast Iowa, ranging from Washington and Muscatine in the north down to Fort Madison and Keokuk in the south.
“Every Ukrainian that we deal with, all of them are legal immigrants,” Bartels said. “They came on Humanitarian Parole.”
That status is good for up to two years, and last August the Volovods and other immigrants were able to apply for, and received, Temporary Protected Status.
This also included immigrants from Venezuela, Afghanistan, and Haiti.
The subject of illegal immigrants from the southern border was a key issue during the past election. There were concerns over the lack of vetting and safety factors.
But Bartels said the Ukrainian situation isn’t the same.
“No one can come here through that (U4U) program unless they have a sponsor in America,” he said.
“The American government takes a look at who wants to come, from the perspective of, ‘Are these criminals, terrorists?’ Everybody’s been checked out.
“The American government also checks out the sponsors, to make sure they’re not traffickers and are not going to abuse people.”
The Volovods journey
At a recent Rotary Club meeting, Alina presented her winning essay, and Larysa and Laura Francisco also attended.
Francisco described the mother’s and daughter’s journey.
She said Bartels knew of a Ukrainian woman named Victoria, who said she had a friend and her daughter who were trying to get out of their country.
“We filed paperwork and they filed paperwork,” Francisco said.
“They traveled via bus and went through multiple checkpoints to get to Poland’s border.”
There, they stayed overnight. The next day, the bus arrived at the airport as their plane was taking off.
After another overnight stay, the mother and daughter flew to Chicago, where they were picked up by the Franciscos.
“My heart has been changed drastically,” Francisco said, “to hear what they had to go through.”
Alina is a seventh-grader at Great River Christian School, and she said she likes the school.
One of the things that surprised her when coming to America was how welcoming people are.
“People are kind,” Alina said. “In Ukraine, it’s not really the same as here. I like this place. Everyone wants to be your friend. You are coming somewhere and everyone says to you, ‘Hi, hello, how are you?’ ”
Of her interests, Alina said, “I like art, to draw something, music, and I like to ride a bike.”
Her father is a well-known artist and has had his work shown in galleries in Kyiv, Moscow, and New York City.
Letter-writing campaign
In order to help resume the processing, Bartels said, “There are a lot of people writing Congress. Those 208 Ukrainians have hundreds of Americans in this area that support them; they want them to stay.
“They’re wonderful people. They work hard. Their kids are charming. The support in our part of Iowa is humbling. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Bartels also stressed that this has been a non-partisan endeavor from a political standpoint.
“It’s an awful situation,” he said.