Safe at last

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, February 20th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Just in time across the border.

Last fall, we introduced you to Sergey and Zhanna Kosiak. They are a Christian couple from Russia and Ukraine. They fled Russia with their two children in early 2024 out of fear for their family’s safety. Zhanna, who is Ukrainian, criticized Russia’s actions in Ukraine online and the couple’s church also vocally opposed the war.

The government targeted them and other members of the congregation for speaking out.

KOSIAK: If they see that you have posted something, you go to prison, they can take your kids to the government house for kids.

REICHARD: When we met them last, the Kosiaks had been waiting for more than seven months in Tijuana, Mexico, for an appointment to ask for asylum in the US.

WORLD’s Compassion reporter Addie Offereins caught up with the couple and WORLD’s Kristen Flavin brings you more of their story.

AUDIO: [Sound of door opening, walking outside]

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The Kosiaks favorite thing about their new home country is simply walking outside without fear. If they see a police officer while on their walk, they're no longer anxious..

ZHANNA: When I see the policeman, I don't have a fear because when we live in Russia, when you see the policeman, you understand that you’re not doing anything bad but you’re afraid.

It’s been a little more than two months since Zhanna, her husband Sergey, and their two children arrived in North Carolina. They talked about their experience in the living room of a small brick house just outside Winston-Salem.

ZHANNA: We ask each other and say, "Sergey, you can imagine that we are already in America. Very often I just feel like I'm dreaming all the time.

The couple used a Customs and Border Protection mobile app called CBP One to request an appointment to begin the asylum process at a port of entry. It took them nine months.

Then one day in early November they were granted an appointment.

ZHANNA: For us it was like a very big miracle because before we go to the border we ask many lawyers about the situation.

The lawyers told them they had a 99 percent chance of ending up in detention. Some immigration lawyers estimate Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining between 6,000 and 10,000 Russian citizens because the agency considers them high-risk. The exact number is unknown.

ZHANNA: You're preparing for this to not see each other for many months. To be honest, we pray that God gives us the strength.

The family arrived at the Mexicali port of entry on November 26.

ZHANNA: There are many people, for example, the men with men, women, and women with kids, like this big array, and you are waiting there.

Immigration officers did biometric screenings and asked them about their background. In another room, an officer gave them a brief medical examination. Officials asked why they were asking for protection in the United States.

ZHANNA: We're thinking that they just take us to another place. So we were on the second floor and then when we go to the first floor and they give us the documents and say okay welcome to America

The whole process only took six hours.

ZHANNA: We were shocked just looking at each other and inside we just wanted to cry because of God's mercy.

AUDIO: [Sound of food simmering]

Another thing about America that the Kosiaks love is Mexican food—specifically María González’ cooking. Until the family gets on their feet, they’re staying with Mexican-American Pastor Juvenal Gonzalez and his wife, Maria. González pastors a church in North Carolina and also runs a ministry hosting asylum-seekers in a home he owns in Tijuana, Mexico. The couple stayed there while they waited for their CBP One appointment.

AUDIO: [Sound of Maria cooking, “This is vegetables with sausage and rice”]

For dessert, there’s papaya with lime juice and cheesecake.

AUDIO: [Sound of food simmering]

Sergey Kosiak can’t speak English so he used Google translate to praise María’s cooking.

AUDIO: (Automated voice) I think that any fast food or any cafe here in America will never catch up with her level.

Sergey is working on getting his American driver’s license and hopes to eventually get a job selling building materials like he did in Russia. The couple is also preparing for their first asylum hearing in immigration court scheduled for next summer.

They’re grateful for the support of Pastor González, his wife, and the rest of the church community they’ve found in North Carolina.

ZHANNA: You understand that God is always with you in any place where you can go, there is a family of God.

But they’re also praying for the friends they left behind in Tijuana. President Donald Trump shut down the CBP One app on his first day in office. Another family who attended church with the Kosiaks back in Russia didn’t get their appointment in time.

ZHANNA: They are waiting. They are praying. And we believe sometimes the doors are closed, but when God opens, no one can close.

The administration argues shutting down the asylum process is an essential first step in regaining control of the border. The Kosiaks know the system is often abused.

ZHANNA: They just want to go to America. So the American government needs to check if they really have a reason to go.

Asylum is a status granted to individuals fearing persecution on account of their race, religion, or political opinion. But many immigrants use the system for personal gain. They see it as a stepping stone to economic opportunity. But for the Kosiaks, asylum gives them a home.

ZHANNA: For our family, I can even imagine the thought about that we can come back to Russia, makes me scared.

AUDIO: [Sound of silverware clanking]

In the small kitchen, Zhanna is pulling out spoons and coffee cups.

ZHANNA: So most people like to drink coffee, coffee, coffee, only coffee.

AUDIO: [Sound of water heating up]

She’s learned Americans drink more coffee than tea and enjoy putting sugar in everything.

ZHANNA: We become more American to drink only coffee.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin, with reporting from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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