Twin Cities family from Ukraine set to self-deport: "We are becoming illegal here"

A family living in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, who fled Ukraine amid the war with Russia is set to self deport on Monday.

Serhai and Yelyza Ponomarenko, and their 4-year-old daughter Zlata, were among the more than 200,000 Ukrainians who came to the U.S. through the United For Ukraine humanitarian program.

"We stayed there for two-and-a-half years during the war, and it was a nightmare, especially with a little child, my daughter was born in the war," said Serhai Ponomarenko. "So, we couldn't stay there anymore and decided to just try to give her a bright future."  

Their daughter is enrolled in Eden Prairie Schools, and the family has learned English during their time in Minnesota. Serhai Ponomarenko had also started a plumbing business. The family's two-year visa is now expiring, and the government has ended the program.

They say the move to self deport is to help their case for returning to the U.S. in the future.

"We are becoming illegal here," said Serhai Ponomarenko. "With everything that happened last winter, with how immigrants were deported and treated, my wife just was under very, very huge stress. She doesn't want to have that anymore."

They say they'll head to Europe for a couple months, as long as they're allowed, while they try to figure out where they can live next.