An Ukrainian woman who fled the war in 2024 to seek refuge in the United States recently chose to return to her home country to avoid potential arrest by ICE, the American immigration police.
Escaping the American immigration police at all costs. Karina Krainov, a Ukrainian refugee who arrived in the United States after fleeing the Russian invasion in 2024, returned to her home country due to the tightening of migration controls.
The 39-year-old woman had legally arrived in the United States under a welcoming program set up by the administration of former Democrat president Joe Biden.
However, the return of Donald Trump and his particularly restrictive immigration policy, which has cost the lives of several people during checks conducted by ICE, led her to make this decision.
“I prefer that to being detained”
In an interview with The Guardian, Karina Krainov, who had obtained her American driver’s license and had been working as a truck driver since, recounts how she suddenly lost it during a roadside check last autumn.
Facing increased checks, Karina Krainov explains that she prefers not to take any risk of arrest: “I did not want to be arrested by ICE agents at a gas station or on the road and be placed in detention.”
Return to a country at war
“I would rather go home to my husband than be detained for months and be treated like other immigrants in these detention centers,” she assures.
Like Karina Krainov, thousands of immigrant drivers have lost their licenses due to the tightening of commercial driver’s license rules.
The thirty-something, who has resumed her daily life in a war-torn country, talks about “trams and buses still out of service for another month.” “There have been numerous attacks on residential buildings where civilians live,” she adds.
