Ukraine Finally Has Bipartisan Support in the US. Why Are Ukrainian Consuls Working to Destroy It?

On Sept. 18 US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. Eighty-six senators from both parties voted for it. So did 262 members of the House of Representatives. When the $60 billion Ukraine aid package passed the House in April 2024, 112 Republicans voted against it. For the Russian Sanction bill this month, seven did.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Seven. For two years the fear was that a Trump presidency would be a disaster for Ukraine. It hasn’t been. Republicans who once treated Ukraine as a Democratic cause now vote for it. Trump signed the bill into law. Fifty-eight House Democrats defied their own leadership to vote yes. Four days after the signing, President Zelensky sat down with President Trump in New York and came out saying Trump had made his “final decision”: Ukraine will get licenses to produce Patriot missiles. The missiles that stop Russian ballistic missiles before they hit Ukrainian targets. It’s been a long time since the news from Washington was this good. It’s also fragile. Trump promised the Patriot licenses once before, in July, and walked it back. Days after the New York meeting he wouldn’t confirm it to reporters. Nothing is locked in. Every Congressional vote of support has to be protected. And the biggest threat to it right now isn’t coming from Ukraine’s enemies in Congress. It’s coming from a small group of people who carry the title of Ukrainian consul. Other Topics of Interest Ukrainian Intel Exposes Russia Helping Iran Target US Forces Kyiv says Russian satellites tracked US and Gulf military sites before and after Iranian strikes, deepening concerns over Moscow-Tehran intelligence ties. Who they are Ukraine’s honorary consuls in the United States are not diplomats. They are US citizens, though often of Ukrainian background. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives them the title and apparently, very little oversight. These consuls have been active in meeting with congressmen and speaking to the press to push a policy that Ukraine opposes. Working against their own government Ukraine’s official policy toward its citizens abroad fits in two words: come home. In December 2024 the government created a Ministry of National Unity, and the Prime Minister said its main job would be “the strategy, programs and incentives on how to bring Ukrainians back to live and work in Ukraine.” That work continues today inside the Ministry of Social Policy. Housing help. Jobs. Services for people coming back. And people are coming back. According to the International Organization for Migration, over 1 million Ukrainians have returned home from abroad since the full-scale invasion. From Poland, from Germany, from the Czech Republic. Under the drones. Because the country needs them. Meanwhile some of Ukraine’s consuls in the US are lobbying the American government to keep Ukrainians here permanently, and to bring more. That isn’t Ukraine’s policy. It’s the opposite. So who are they working for? For the consuls who practice immigration law, the answer isn’t complicated. It’s their business. What they’re doing with the title One consul is an immigration lawyer. At a political event for a Republican congressman who had just taken a hard vote to send weapons to Ukraine, she didn’t thank him. She lectured him about immigration and compared the President of the United States to Nazi Germany. Then asked him to review some cases she was working on. Another consul, a former Republican political operative, asked me to help him reach Senator. Not about air defense. Not about long-range strikes. About one Ukrainian truck driver ICE had picked up. This summer he went to an American newspaper, speaking as Ukraine’s consul, and accused a state highway patrol and ICE of “using deception” to arrest Ukrainian truckers. The highway patrol program belongs to a Republican governor. The Department of Homeland Security is now run by the consul’s own former boss. Maybe some of those drivers were treated unfairly. Their lawyers can argue that in court. But think about who read that story. A Republican governor and a Republican cabinet secretary opened their home-state paper and found the representative of Ukraine saying their people lie. What they want This month the American Coalition for Ukraine sent a policy sheet to Congress titled “Protecting Displaced Ukrainians in the United States.” A group of Ukrainian-American immigration lawyers wrote the document and their organization is co-sponsor of the program. It counts 510,000 Ukrainians living here on temporary status and asks Washington to keep all of them. No exception. Many Ukrainians were given temporary residency in America in 2022. The lawyers want it extended and made permanent, meaning the temporary refugees never return to Ukraine but become US citizens. Then it asks for more. Reopen the Uniting for Ukraine program to more new arrivals. Why this is so dangerous Ukrainians should understand one thing about American politics. Donald Trump won the presidency twice on one issue above all others: immigration. For a Republican, this is not a policy detail. It is the core of his party. So when Ukraine’s representatives spend a meeting on green cards, a Republican hears that Ukraine’s priority is not the war. It’s getting its people into America. And when someone speaking for Ukraine compares his President to the Nazis, he stops taking the calls. This will not win Democrats votes to help Ukraine either. Democrats introduced the Ukrainian Adjustment Act earlier this year. Thirty-two Democrats co-sponsored the bill which was a vote to support Ukrainian refugees as well as political stance against President Trump. Unfortunately, when it came time to vote for the Russian sanctions bill, only 13 of those Democrats were willing to support Ukraine. Voting against Trump on immigration is an easy vote for a Democrat. Voting for sanctions or weapons is hard. Many representatives are choosing to show their support for Ukraine by supporting refugees. The consuls are helping them do that. What needs to happen To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: An honorary consul speaks in Ukraine’s name. Consuls who use that title to fight against American immigration policy instead of for Ukrainian defense should be removed or silenced. No more meetings with congressmen to talk about their legal cases. No more statements to the press. The lack of an ambassador in Washington is not helping. To the Government of Ukraine: Say it publicly. Ukraine’s lobbying the United States government to grant Ukrainians refugees permanent residency is a disaster for Ukraine-US relations. To Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans: Write to the American Coalition for Ukraine. Thank them for their work on sanctions. Then ask them to stop lobbying the United States government for more immigration and to take their name off the immigration sheet. One ask. Weapons. None of this is against the refugees. My family helped resettle more than a dozen Ukrainians in America. The best way to help the refugees is to help Ukraine win the war. Advocating for the refugees is the opposite of advocating for Ukraine. If you want to push for immigration reform, join an immigration advocacy group, not a Ukrainian group. The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act is a symbol of bi-partisan support for Ukraine and stepping stone to stronger American-Ukraine relations. Don’t let Ukraine’s own consuls tear it down. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.