New Jersey man trying to bring Ukrainian daughter, granddaughter to U.S. has hit visa snags

A New Jersey man is trying to bring his daughter and granddaughter stateside after they fled Ukraine, but he says they have hit visas snags. Bruce Ahrens called on the President Joe Biden to uphold his promise to welcome Ukrainians fleeing the war. "Mr. Biden you said you’d open Ukrainians with open arms, open them," Ahrens said. "Add Ukraine to ESTA authorized countries and boom - everyone can get on a plane - or drop the visa requirement."

PHILADELPHIA - A New Jersey native is trying to bring his daughter and granddaughter stateside from Ukraine, but he said they haven't been able to get visas cleared despite the U.S. government's promise to welcome refugees.

Bruce Ahrens said he is trying to get temporary tourist visas for his daughter Yullia and his granddaughter Dasha. Yullia's husband has stayed behind to fight for the Ukrainian resistance.

Ahrens spoke to FOX 29's Jennifer Joyce from a temporary apartment in Romania where he is staying with his wife, Yullia and Dasha. He said they've hit administrative snags and called on the President Joe Biden to uphold his promise to welcome Ukrainians fleeing the war.

"Mr. Biden you said you’d open Ukrainians with open arms, open them," Ahrens said. "Add Ukraine to ESTA authorized countries and boom - everyone can get on a plane - or drop the visa requirement."

A GoFundMe campaign has raised over $2k to help the family get to the United States. You can donate here.

Putin's deadly crusade to seize Ukraine has waged on for nearly three weeks, worsened under the continued threat of nuclear war from the Russian leader. The United Nations estimates that millions have fled the country, with many seeking refuge in nearby Poland.

At least 1 million people have been displaced within Ukraine, International Organization for Migration director general Antonio Vitorino told reporters. The scale of the humanitarian crisis is so extreme that the "worst case scenario" in the IOM’s contingency planning has already been surpassed, he said.

The United Nations human rights office said Wednesday it had recorded the killings of 516 civilians in Ukraine in the two weeks since Russia invaded, including 37 children. Most have been caused by "the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area," it said. It believes the real toll is "considerably higher" and noted that its numbers don’t include some areas of "intense hostilities," including Mariupol.

Biden, who has resisted Zelenskyy's requests to send warplanes to Ukraine fearing escalating the war with Russia, announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday.

That announcement came shortly after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed U.S. congress calling for a no-fly zone over his country, more sanctions and possibly the facilitation of military aircraft.