Ukrainian-American woman travels to Poland in unsuccessful bid to get family to U.S.: "They just turned us away"
When Maryna Seifi heard Russian forces were heading to the Ukrainian city of Odesa, she told her two teenage relatives to go to Poland immediately. The Ukrainian-American was hoping to meet them there and fly them to the U.S. — only to learn they were not allowed in America.
Seifi, who lives in California, said she told her 19-year-old sister Victoria and 16-year old nephew Ilya to take the train to Poland and wait for her there.
"They were able to jump on the train and stay tight. There were a lot of people trying to get out," she told "CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil in an interview near the Poland-Ukraine border.
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."
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.
Seifi was stunned.
"When the leaders of the country tell you, 'We stand with you. We support you,' this is not actual support," she said. "Actual support is when you help me to bring my family. They don't have any place to go. They have to go with me."
To make matters worse, her niece lost her passport in the rush out of Odesa.
"Poland let her in without even checking the documents. They allow people in without even a birth certificate because there is a humanity. Why America cannot be human?" Seifi said.
The situation has left her in what feels like an impossible no-man's land. She can't leave her family in Ukraine, but she also needs to get back to her children in America.
"It's extremely hard. I'm a fighter. I'm going to be fighting for them. I will not send them back. I will never send them back," Seifi said.
CBS News reached out to Seifi's congressman, Representative Eric Swalwell, whose office said it was contacting her and willing to help in whatever way it can.