US reverses course, allows Ukrainian family to seek asylum

By GREGORY BULL and JULIE WATSON
Associated Press

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — U.S. authorities allowed a Ukrainian woman and her three children to seek asylum, a reversal from a day earlier when she was denied entry under the Biden administration’s sweeping restrictions for seeking humanitarian protection. The 34-year-old entered San Diego for processing Thursday after authorities blocked her path hours earlier, triggering criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats. An advocate saw the Ukrainian woman crying with her children and looking “very uncomfortable.” The advocate’s tweets and media coverage sparked renewed criticism of a Trump-era order to prevent spread of COVID-19 by denying people a chance to seek asylum.