Ukrainian-American woman travels to Poland in unsuccessful bid to get family to U.S.: "They just turned us away"

[Boiler 45,733]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukrainian-american-refugees-poland-state-department/

 

The moment the teens were safely on board, Seifi and her husband ran as well. They boarded the next flight from California to Poland, leaving behind their two children — the youngest just 2 years old.

"The directions were that, as soon as you get out of the train, you're not going to any volunteers. You sit there and you wait 10 days, 20 days, until your auntie comes to pick you up," she said.

They reunited five days ago on the now-famous train platform in the Polish city of Przemyśl, thinking the hard part was over. But that's where the family's luck ran out.

"When we went to the American Embassy, they just turned us away," Seifi said. "They have no sympathy, no understanding. Even when I say I'm an American citizen that wants to take my kids."

 

As this seems to come up quite a bit I thought I would post some actual experience. Unclear if she had actually applied for anything on just turned up at the American Interests section

 

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Boiler

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

I am not insensitive to her plight, but she should have asked here first.  We would have told her "No travel document = no flight to the US".

Edited March 12, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[millefleur 5,047]

This is why people shouldn't listen to Biden, or Blinken or any of the higher up people in the gov't right now that are going on TV and saying rhetoric about how much the US wants to help Ukrainian refugees. The official DoS stance hasn't changed and the article makes it really clear:

 

"The State Department says Ukrainians are only being considered for resettlement in the U.S. if the countries they fled to are also unsafe. This comes despite reassurance from the Biden administration to provide refugees with security assistance, economic and humanitarian assistance as well as special protections for Ukrainians already living in the U.S.

 

The State Department so far hasn't announced any exceptions for those fleeing the war — even if their closest family relatives are American."

 

4 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

She should have asked here first.  We would have told her "No travel document = no flight to the US".

Exactly.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

I wonder what "teenage relatives" actually means...it references sister, nephew and niece.  

Edited March 12, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Timona 4,208]

I don't see this as Biden fault. This is just pure stupidity on the lady. How was she expecting to bring them to US without any documentation/ valid visas etc because she's "USC?" I mean, if her belief was true, wouldn't all Ukrainians be in the US by now since no documentation is needed?

 

And why does it have to be US that they want to go to? If safety is priority, Poland is fine. Poland is already allowing Ukrainians without documentation. So, they should be fine by now. 

 

I, as USC, should also demand to bring my distant relatives to US because the cost of living in Kenya is high. 

 

Think people 🤦🏽‍♂️

Edited March 12, 2022 by Timona

[Boiler 45,733]

7 minutes ago, Timona said:

I don't see this as Biden fault. This is just pure stupidity on the lady. How was she expecting to bring them to US without any documentation/ valid visas etc because she's "USC?" I mean, if her belief was true, wouldn't all Ukrainians be in the US by now since no documentation is needed?

 

And why does it have to be US that they want to go to? If safety is priority, Poland is fine. Poland is already allowing Ukrainians without documentation. So, they should be fine by now. 

 

I, as USC, should also demand to bring my distant relatives to US because the cost of living in Kenya is high. 

 

Think people 🤦🏽‍♂️

She does sound a bit of a Karen and wonder why she had not done some basic investigation.

 

Biden said he would  welcome Ukrainians with open arms seems to be where the confusion arose.

[JeanneAdil 6,581]

if u check the site for refugees and aslyum and Ukrainie ,  it lists this:

it hasn't caught up to the invasion / way out of date

UNHCR
https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en/refugees-asylum-seekers

 

Ukraine is a destination and transit country for persons with international protection needs as well as economic migrants seeking to enter the European Union

 

how could US help?  we could expedite the ones with a petition in progress / that would be a step in the right direction

 

[Boiler 45,733]

They are being expedited.

[Timona 4,208]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

She does sound a bit of a Karen and wonder why she had not done some basic investigation.

 

Biden said he would  welcome Ukrainians with open arms seems to be where the confusion arose.

 

And then they decided to misinterprete it. Basic schooling or use of common sense is useless to some people. 

 

1 minute ago, JeanneAdil said:

if u check the site for refugees and aslyum and Ukrainie ,  it lists this:

it hasn't caught up to the invasion / way out of date

UNHCR
https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en/refugees-asylum-seekers

 

Ukraine is a destination and transit country for persons with international protection needs as well as economic migrants seeking to enter the European Union

 

how could US help?  we could expedite the ones with a petition in progress / that would be a step in the right direction

 

 

The above makes sense. People just don't want to think/ research for 2 minutes. 

[MarJhi 963]

8 minutes ago, Timona said:

"How was she expecting to bring them to US without any documentation/ valid visas etc"

If the southern border has been wide open to 2 million illegal aliens, I think it was fair for her to have an expectation.

 

11 minutes ago, Timona said:

And why does it have to be US that they want to go to?

Again, why does the US have to accept the flood of people at the southern border, let them go to Poland or wherever.

 

14 minutes ago, Timona said:

I, as USC, should also demand to bring my distant relatives to US because the cost of living in Kenya is high

Sure, let's just let every distant relative from every  American from every country in the world come in, we have plenty of room right? I guess there is plenty of room for those who do things the wrong way, unlike every person on here trying to do it the right way.

 

16 minutes ago, Timona said:

Think people

Thanks for reminding people to think....... I think.

[JeanneAdil 6,581]

Just now, Boiler said:

They are being expedited.

hadn't seen this posted

and how do people know when they are now homeless?

[Boiler 45,733]

1 minute ago, JeanneAdil said:

hadn't seen this posted

and how do people know when they are now homeless?

Things are mainly done on line

[Boiler 45,733]

Not sure what you mean by living in the shadows, I have come across quite a few people here without status and have not noticed that.

 

I have read that a lot of Ukrainians and Russians are heading through Mexico, apparently the best bet is to buy an old banger and drive in.

[millefleur 5,047]

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I have read that a lot of Ukrainians and Russians are heading through Mexico, apparently the best bet is to buy an old banger and drive in.

I just saw a story about this actually:

 

A Wave of Ukrainians and Russians at the U.S.-Mexico Border Puts Pressure on Biden's Immigration Restrictions

Ukrainian woman, Sofiia, and her three children were finally allowed to cross the United States-Mexico border near Tijuana on the morning of March 11. It was their third attempt to seek asylum in the U.S.

 

The border agents that had denied Sophiia and her children had cited Title 42, an obscure and controversial public health rule that allows U.S. officials to circumvent the normal trappings of immigration procedure, including asylum interviews. Lawyers with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings eventually helped clear their way.

 

Read more here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-wave-of-ukrainians-and-russians-at-the-us-mexico-border-puts-pressure-on-bidens-immigration-restrictions/ar-AAUX2mz

Edited March 12, 2022 by millefleur

[Lonny&Kris 16]

3 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I just saw a story about this actually:

 

A Wave of Ukrainians and Russians at the U.S.-Mexico Border Puts Pressure on Biden's Immigration Restrictions

Ukrainian woman, Sofiia, and her three children were finally allowed to cross the United States-Mexico border near Tijuana on the morning of March 11. It was their third attempt to seek asylum in the U.S.

 

The border agents that had denied Sophiia and her children had cited Title 42, an obscure and controversial public health rule that allows U.S. officials to circumvent the normal trappings of immigration procedure, including asylum interviews. Lawyers with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings eventually helped clear their way.

 

Read more here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-wave-of-ukrainians-and-russians-at-the-us-mexico-border-puts-pressure-on-bidens-immigration-restrictions/ar-AAUX2mz

Curious to see what people's thoughts are on taking the route of crossing the u.s Mexican border vs waiting for expedition to be approved or not, and then also waiting for that to finish. I don't support illegal immigration, but desperate times calls for desperate measures I guess. I want to be clear I'm not advocating for people to cross illegally, just curious on what people's opinions are considering the extreme circumstances going on.