AURORA, Colo. — The United Nations refugee agency reports the refugee crisis in eastern Europe, triggered by the Russian invasion, is getting worse by the day. The UN said more than 2.8 million people had escaped Ukraine, and over the weekend another 200,000 crossed over the border.
One of those refugees now in Poland is Anastasia Haynes' grandmother. Haynes flew to Poland from Aurora last week to help her grandmother escape from Ukraine.
"She’s a strong woman, that’s for sure. This is now her second war that she has lived through," Haynes said via Zoom. "It’s hard for her because she’s in a wheelchair and she’s 86 years old, so I think it took her about three days to get from my Kharkiv to the border and they were able to drive her to Warsaw."
Haynes' grandmother lived in Kharkiv, Ukraine, a town that has been a target for many heavy attacks. The most recent one forced Haynes' grandmother to leave.
"I said, 'Grandma I know your friends are there, I know you lived there your whole life, but you might not have a home soon,'" Haynes said.
"She was just crying and she said 'they were bombing as I was running out of my apartment,' so she was very, very scared. [I] think she's relieved now. Now we're just frustrated with the process of how to get her to the United States."
Options to get someone to the U.S. quickly from Ukraine are limited. Matthew Barringer, an immigration attorney in Aurora, told 9NEWS visas will likely take months, and the best bet for any Ukrainian attempting to get to the U.S. as soon as possible is through another country.
"The main option that they have at this point is, quite candidly, is they have to get to a border, whether that's the Mexico-U.S. border or the Canadian-American border, and then ask for asylum at that point. There is no special line right now for those that are refugees from Ukraine. There just isn't. They can certainly petition if they have a family member, but that’s going to take months if not years," Barringer said.
"I think it sheds a huge light on the very deep issues of our immigration system. Whether you’re on the right or on the left, it doesn’t matter. This system is unbelievably and utterly broken."
Haynes plans to fly back to Colorado this week, but her mother will stay with her grandmother as they figure out their next move with an immigration attorney. She hopes the government makes it easier for refugees to get to the U.S. in a timely manner.
"I know there are so many steps and a lot more that goes into it, but yeah, I’m hoping," she said.
The Biden administration announced it would allow some Ukrainians already in the U.S. to seek temporary immigration protections. The protected status would last for 18 months and the person must have arrived in the U.S. before March 1.
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