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THE IMPOSSIBLE

Babies Without U.S. Visas Leave Ukrainian Families Facing Brutal Choices

“One plus one plus one equals three—we can’t leave one behind, especially the littlest child,” Father Robert Hitchens said of situations facing some families escaping Ukraine.

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WOJTEK RADWANSKI

As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine was beginning to unfold, Father Robert Hitchens, a pastor at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington, D.C., received a request for help for Ukrainians who fled their country and now faced an impossible choice.

“I had a call from a woman whose Ukrainian relatives are stuck in Budapest right now—the mother has a visa and the older child has a visa to come to the U.S., but the youngest child does not have a visa,” said Hitchens. “She’s not going to leave the young child behind, and they’re running into brick walls.”

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