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US authorities have allowed a Ukrainian woman and her three children to seek asylum, a reversal from when she was denied entry under sweeping restrictions for seeking humanitarian protection under President Joe Biden's administration.
The 34-year-old woman and her children — ages 14, 12 and 6 — entered San Diego this week for processing after authorities blocked her path hours earlier, triggering sharp criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats.
Blaine Bookey, legal director of the Centre for Gender and Refugee Studies, was returning to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico, when she saw the Ukrainian woman crying with her children, and looking “very uncomfortable”.
The family had been denied the chance to seek asylum after being turned back because of an order from the Donald Trump era, known as Title 42, that was put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Mr Schumer mentioned the Ukrainian family when calling for an end to use of Title 42 authority, which is named after a 1944 public health law.
“They requested refuge in one of the ports of entry on our southern border, but were turned away because of Title 42,” Mr Schumer said on a conference call with reporters. “This is not who we are as a country. Continuing this Trump-era policy has defied common sense and common decency.”
The Homeland Security Department said it admitted the Ukrainian family “after we reviewed the facts of their case” and it continues to exempt “particularly vulnerable” people on a case-by-case basis.
Migrants have been expelled more than 1.6 million times since Title 42 was introduced in March 2020. The Biden administration has defended the order even as coronavirus cases have subsided.
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This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destroyed and burning warehouse buildings in Stoyanka, Ukraine, in the western Kyiv region, during the Russian invasion. AP -
Children shelter in a metro station in Kharkiv. Moscow said on March 10, 2022, that it will open daily humanitarian corridors to allow civilians fleeing fighting in Ukraine to reach Russian territory, despite Kyiv insisting that no evacuation routes should lead to Russia. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a videoconference meeting with government members at the Kremlin in Moscow. The meeting focuses on minimising the effects of sanctions on the Russian economy. Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, prompting the country's president to declare martial law and triggering a series of severe economic sanctions imposed by western countries. EPA -
Rescuers work among remains of buildings damaged by an air strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, as Russia's attack on the country continues. Reuters -
Members of the National Guard of Ukraine, Oleksandr and Olena, listen to a priest at their wedding in Ukraine. Reuters -
People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine warm up by a fire near the train station in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters -
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A woman covers herself with a blanket near a damaged fire truck after shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP Photo -
A Ukrainian soldier hides from a helicopter air strike near Demydiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers walk past a monument of the city founder Duke de Richelieu, covered with sand bags for protection, in Odessa, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, centre, and Ukranian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. EPA -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in talks with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba during a tripartite meeting chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Antalya, Turkey. AP -
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks to the media as the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey hold talks in Antalya, 15 days after Russia launched a military invasion on Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian serviceman says goodbye to his girlfriend before departing in the direction of Kyiv at the central train station in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP -
Valerii Sushkevych, president of the Ukraine National Paralympic Committee, and the Ukraine delegation raise their fists and pose with a banner at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games. Reuters -
A member of the Ukrainian team cries during a moment of silence at the Zhangjiakou athletes village during the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games. AFP -
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, right, and Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kubela, second left, in Antalya, Turkey. AFP -
A man is supported after crossing the Irpin river while fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine. AP -
People are helped out of a damaged children's hospital following a Russian air strike in the southeastern city of Mariupol, Ukraine. AFP -
A man rides a bicycle in front of an apartment building that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol. AP -
A woman carries two babies after arriving at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A man hugs an elderly woman after crossing a damaged bridge as they flee from the frontline town of Irpin, near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. EPA -
Local residents cook at a makeshift camp next to a checkpoint in Kyiv. EPA -
Ukrainian men chop wood at a makeshift camp next to a checkpoint in Kyiv. EPA -
A member of the Territorial Defence Forces learns how to use a Javelin missile during a training session in Kyiv. EPA -
Members of the Territorial Defence Forces learn how to give first aid during the training session. EPA -
A woman rescued from the outskirts of Kyiv holds a plate of food after arriving at a triage point in the Ukrainian capital. AP -
A woman cries after arriving at the triage point in Kyiv. AP -
Civilian vehicles drive past a destroyed Russian tank as they leave Irpin. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen stand in a foxhole in Irpin. AP -
People gather on a platform to board a train leaving Odesa after the US said Russian troops are making preparations to attack the city. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman looks for food in a bin in Odesa's city centre. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen look towards Russian positions outside the city of Brovary, east of Kyiv. AFP -
A man walks past a shelled house at the village of Velyka Dymerka, east of Kyiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian serviceman stands at a check point in the vilage of Velyka Dymerka east of Kyiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman plays with her child in a temporary refugee shelter in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
A woman waits outside a maternity and children's hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP -
A pregnant woman leaves the hospital after she was wounded when it was bombed. AP -
A woman waits outside the damaged hospital in Mariupol. AP -
A man wounded by shelling in Mariupol. AP -
A car burns after the destruction of the children's hospital in Mariupol. Reuters -
A mortuary worker wheels a stretcher used to move dead bodies before they are buried on the outskirts of Mariupol. AP
The Ukrainian woman, who identified herself to reporters only as Sofiia, first tried entering the US in a car with a relative earlier this week but was turned back, Ms Bookey said. On Wednesday, she walked up to the port of entry and was stopped again before Ms Bookey spotted her and tweeted what happened.
The next morning, Erika Pinheiro, litigation and policy director for Al Otro Lado, an advocacy group that was helping the family, said she received a call from Customs and Border Protection that the woman should pack her bags and be ready to leave on short notice. Hours later, she was told to return to the port of entry.
“She's just been very stoic for her kids and I think she let herself get emotional,” Ms Bookey said.
The woman left Ukraine with her children on February 27, days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. She went to Moldova, Romania and Mexico, arriving in Tijuana on Monday.
The woman said her family in the San Francisco area had urged her to come, saying they feared for her life.
“In any other case, I wouldn’t leave, I’m sure, because I have more family and friends over there [in Ukraine],” she said.
She pulled a small red suitcase and carried a pink backpack patterned with tiny dogs as she walked into the US with her 6-year-old daughter beside her and her older children behind.
Watching them cross into the US was another Ukrainian, a 27-year-old woman who asked to be identified only as Kristina. She was still stuck on the Mexican side with her fiance, a US citizen.
Kristina fled to Poland but hotels and apartments were full. So she flew to Mexico where her fiance met her to help her enter the US.
Mexico accepts citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who are expelled under Title 42 authority. People of other nationalities are subject to expulsion but many are released in the US to seek asylum due to difficulties flying them home. They must be on US soil to claim protection, though, and authorities often block their path.
Kristina said she, too, walked up to the border on Wednesday and asked to be let in to seek asylum but like the family, she was turned away because of Title 42. The couple returned on Thursday and was hopeful when the family was let in but they were blocked again and given no explanation.
“They don’t listen to us,” Kristina said.
After spending five hours waiting Thursday, Kristina fainted, and was carried away by her fiance, who said they were stressed and exhausted and were heading to a Tijuana hotel.
“Why can't they just talk to us, too?” her fiance said. “We don't know what to do.”
