Four years ago, Dmytro Hrynchyshyn, his wife Taisiia, and their three-year-old son fled Ukraine and wound up in St. Louis. He had three master’s degrees—in law, economics, and engineering, he says. But those degrees didn’t mean in Missouri what they had in Europe, and so Dmytro worked a factory job and as the couple worked to open up a bakery.
Today Svoi Patisserie is a destination in the Central West End, with Taisiia’s macarons and artisan breads enjoying a big following. They employ more than a dozen people, and the Hrynchyshyns have an American-born child in addition to their older son, now 7.
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But their American dream may be coming to an abrupt end. The Trump administration has yet to renew the Temporary Protected Status that allows Ukrainians to live and work in the U.S. If it’s not renewed by October 19, the Hrynchyshyns face potential removal, along with a half-dozen of their employees.
They’re far from alone. A total of 101,000 Ukrainians are in the U.S. under the TPS program. While some reports suggest the Trump administration is willing to extend their protective status, that hasn’t happened yet, and everyone in the program is now living with the uncertainty of knowing that the life they built could vanish in less than two weeks. (Some have other asylum claims and potential paths to staying in this country, but without TPS, they feel subject to the whims of ICE—and with good reason.)
Former KMOX host and Donnybrook provocateur Charlie Brennan has made the Ukrainians a special cause after meeting Yuliia Korol in line at Costco. The 33-year-old veterinary assistant came to St. Louis alone after it became too dangerous to live in her neighborhood. She also faces removal on October 19 if TPS isn’t extended.
Yesterday Brennan and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page convened a number of local Ukrainians at St. Mary’s Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church in South County to bring attention to the situation. Brennan said Page reached out after reading his column about Korol in the St. Louis Business Journal and suggested they “make a little bit of noise.”
In addition to yesterday’s press event, they’ve also circulated a letter asking for help from Missouri’s congressional delegation, with co-signatories including everyone from Clayco chairman Bob Clark to broadcaster Bob Costas to state Senator Nick Schroer (R-St. Charles County). Strange bedfellows, yes, but as Page suggests, the cause is a no brainer: “There are a lot of complex questions where the answers aren’t clear,” he said to the assembled media yesterday. “This isn’t one of them. There’s a pretty obvious answer to this question.”
U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell (D-St. Louis), for one, agrees. “Ukrainians in St. Louis and across Missouri fled a war they did not choose, and many cannot safely return. That’s why I urge the administration to extend Ukraine’s Temporary Protected Status before it expires on October 19,” he said in a statement issued in response to Page and Brennan’s efforts. “I have consistently opposed efforts by this administration to strip TPS from people who have built lives here and those who need it most. I will keep standing with Ukraine in Congress and with Ukrainians at home.”
At St. Mary’s, numerous Ukrainians made the case that they are eager to work hard and contribute to their new hometown. That includes Fr. Oleh Zatvarskyi, the priest currently serving St. Mary’s, who says he fears he’d be drafted for the military if he is forced to return. It also includes Mychailo Naichuk, who came to the U.S. with his wife and three children. Their daughter is now a cheerleader; their older son plays soccer. Naichuk works in a factory that makes “air products and chemicals,” in his words, along with more than a dozen other Ukrainian immigrants.
“You can’t say we take jobs from Americans, because the factory needs 20 more persons,” Naichuk says. “We do not try to make trouble for Americans. We want to stay close to Americans, be like Americans, live like Americans.”
Korol also spoke, with her boss at the animal hospital, Sumit Dhawan, looking on to lend his support. She noted that friends and family members in Ukraine have made clear it’s not safe to return. “The program is meant to be temporary, but the reason is not so,” she said. She spoke of how she is happy to work hard and pay taxes. She’s also become a member at one local cultural institution. “I love the botanical garden,” she said.
As for Dmytro Hrynchyshyn, in addition to helping his wife with the bakery, he’s now studying at WashU. If he’s forced to leave, he says, he will not only default on the loan they took out to start the bakery, but also leave a number of Americans unemployed.
“We are Ukrainians who follow the rules and build nice futures,” he said. “Just give us the chance.”
