East County News Service

June 4, 2022 (San Diego) – The House of Ukraine invites the public to join in a #SaveUkrainianChildren peaceful rally tonight at 5 p.m. followed by a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. as part of a worldwide effort to help Ukrainian children amid the Russian invasion.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Border fence, cc by ND

Update April 23, 2022: A federal judge has temporarily blocked the lifting of Title 42 restrictions.

April 9, 2022 (San Diego) – At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Trump administration began expelling migrants without access to asylum hearings under Title 42.  Now, after lifting of most other pandemic mandates, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control director has announced that suspending migrants’ rights is “no longer necessary” after “considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19, such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics,” the CDC announced in a statement.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Ukrainian refugees crossing into Poland; Creative Commons image via Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs

March 29, 2022 (San Diego) – San Diego County Supervisors have issued statements preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees, following President Joe Biden’s announcement that the U.S. will admit up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine displaced by the Russian invasion. 

Nathan Fletcher, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, issued a statement which reads in part, “Our county has time and again stepped up to help refugees and this time is no different. Together with Los Angeles and Sacramento, we are the largest metropolitan regions in California expected to accept these refugees.”

Fletcher added that the County has also begun helping Ukrainian refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border.

By Matthew Manosh

Photos:  finalists Diego Lynch, Mimi Pollack and Bettina Hanna created films set in San Diego’s East County.

March 21, 2022 (San Diego) – Migrant stories from around the world were poignantly displayed at the San Diego Latino Film Festival on March 15, when finalists in the fourth annual Migrant Voices Today Challenge were presented. The finalists included East County producers and directors as well as stories set in East County.

By Matthew Manosh

Scroll down to links to videos from vigils

March 1, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- Local Ukrainian-Americans gathered in demonstrations these past few days in solidarity with their nation, which is under attack from Russian forces. Thursday night,  a prayer vigil was held in Santee on a vacant lot, where there are plans to build a Ukrainian Catholic Church. Father Yurii Sas of St. John the Baptizer Catholic Church in San Diego led his congregation in prayer and song, asking for God to protect his people in the Ukraine:

Story and photos by Elijah McKee

December 8, 2021 (El Cajon) — “Our community is under threat again. This time, it's right here in the United States,” said Vince Kattoula, a Chaldean activist, at the Keep East County United rally and press conference on Tuesday.

By Elijah McKee

Photo, left: Jill Galante and Peggy Han, volunteers with El Cajon Helping Refugees

November 10, 2021 (El Cajon) — “We regularly, four or five times a day, get messages saying ‘Please, my family is so hungry. Please can you visit,’” said Jill Galante as she scanned the newly assembled single bedroom, now ready for four people.

After just one hour of flurried food stocking, donated furniture assembling and bathroom scrubbing, Galante and a group of volunteers from Helping El Cajon Refugees effectively transformed the bare El Cajon apartment into a welcoming place for Sara, her husband who worked with the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, and their daughters: four-month-old Sana and three-year-old Asra. “We try to make it look like a home,” said Galante.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: immigration court, Creative Commons image by NC-ND

October 21, 2021 (San Diego) – The U.S. Justice Department, under the Biden administration, has ended case quotas for immigration judges imposed during the Trump administration, CNN reports. 

The Trump-era performance metrics had required judges to complete 700 cases a year to receive a satisfactory rating, among other benchmarks. But that policy led to complaints from judges who argued that the quotas valued haste over due process.  

San Diego couple, both in their 80s, repeatedly blocked by the Taliban

East County News Service

September 15, 2021 (San Diego) - Congressman Darrell Issa (R-San Diego) announced today that his office has facilitated the release of two more American citizens from Afghanistan. The Congressman’s constituents, a couple in their 80s, are on their way home and have officially left Kabul.

Update August 31, 2021:  One local family with three Children in the Cajon Valley district has been left behind after the U.S. troop withdrawal,  10 News supports. A district spokesperson said they are exploring ways to bring them home.  The other Cajon Valley familes have been safely evacuated and some students are now back in school. 

Over 104,000 civilians have been evacuated by U.S. in past 10 days; airlifts continue despite bombings as Biden vows retaliations against ISIS

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of the Pentagon: U.s. Air Force personnel help evacuate Afghan civilians at the Kabul airport on Aug. 24

August 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – After today’s deadly terrorist attacks near the Kabul airport, concerns are heightened over the fate of some Cajon Valley Union School District students and their families. Around two dozen students and their families who traveled to visit relatives became trapped in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, the district announced earlier this week.

Today, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that four of the local families have escaped and two have arrived safely in Southern California. But the whereabouts of five other local families, including 14 children, remains unknown.

Story and photo via International Rescue Committee, San Diego

August 25, 2021 (San Diego) -- The United States has begun a humanitarian evacuation and is relocating a group of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants to San Diego. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in San Diego is working alongside communities and partners to support Afghans living in San Diego. 

Source: Lawyer’s Club

Photo: Creative Commons image-SA via Bing

August 24, 2021 (San Diego) – Lawyers Club of San Diego is calling on Congress to provide immediate support for Afghan women and others who have worked to advance democracy and human rights and who are in grave danger as the United States withdraws its military operations from Afghanistan and the Taliban takes control.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Boeing C-17 carrying 640 passengers out of Afghanistan, via Air Mobility Command 

August 20, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego Congressional members and residents with ties to Afghanistan are voicing concerns over the Biden administration’s actions in the wake of a rapid Taliban takeover in Afghanistan following pullout of most U.S. troops.  Chief among the concerns is how to provide safe evacuation of thousands of Afghans who aided American troops, as well as their families, in addition to U.S. citizens, nonprofit workers, journalists and others still in Afghanistan and at risk of losing their lives to vengeful Taliban forces.