POLAND

On November 19, 2025, Ukrainian border authorities reported that fifty Ukrainian citizens, including 45 men and 5 women, were deported from the United States to Poland and had entered Ukraine through the Shehyni crossing on the Poland–Ukraine border. As of late November 2025, the text and details, or even confirmation of the existence, of an agreement between the United States and Poland has not been disclosed. Some arrangement, though, appears to have been in place for this transfer.

On the same day that the deported Ukrainians returned to Ukraine via Poland, Ukraine sustained a deadly Russian strike in Western Ukraine that killed 26 people and injured more than 100 in Ternopil, just over 100 miles from the Shehyni crossing. Following the attack, on November 20, 2025 the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) issued a warning for Ukraine that “no part of the country should be considered safe.” Deportations to Ukraine run counter to UNHCR’s position since 2022 calling on all States not to forcibly return Ukrainian nationals—including individuals whose asylum claims have been rejected—due to the ongoing war and pervasive risks.

Poland and the United States maintain a close strategic relationship. This partnership has deepened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the United States treating Poland as a key regional ally and logistical hub. At his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2025, the Polish president said he “agrees with Donald Trump” that Europe has “descended into an ideological frenzy” of allowing mass migration. In early December 2025, the Trump administration encouraged Poland’s government, which has long sought G20 membership, to “take its rightful place” at next year’s summit. Amid this partnership, the Trump administration is reportedly weighing the possibility of deporting large numbers of Ukrainian citizens from the United States; some Ukrainians have already received warnings that they could be removed on military flights to Ukraine or Poland. 

Poland’s role as a potential transit country occurs within the broader context of its evolving asylum and border policies. On November 14, the Polish President said that he had signed a law on assistance for Ukrainian refugees, which extends their legal status until March 2026, for the “last time.”Although Poland hosts one of the largest Ukrainian populations in Europe under the EU Temporary Protection Directive and domestic emergency-protection legislation, the country has simultaneously adopted increasingly restrictive border control practices. As of August 2025, Ukrainians entering Poland must show proof of financial solvency, and Ukrainian refugees face increasingly restrictive social support in Poland. International non-governmental organizations and monitoring bodies have documented frequent violations of the principle of non-refoulement, including the summary return of asylum seekers at the Belarusian border. Given these conditions, civil society groups in Poland and across Europe have expressed concern that the use of Poland as a transit state could expose transferees to inadequate procedural safeguards, risk of rights violations at the border, or onward removal without proper assessment of protection needs.