Up First from NPR - Ukraine Winter, Jacumba Migrants, Thanksgiving Travel

Episode Date: November 21, 2023

Ukraine enters winter with stalled front lines and uncertainty over the West's continued support for its war with Russia. Migrants set up camps in the tiny border town of Jacumba, California without basic necessities or support from aid organizations. And tens of millions of travelers prepare to take to the skies as Thanksgiving nears. Up First is produced by Ana Perez, Chad Campbell and Claire Murashima. Our editors are Michael Sullivan, Andrea DeLeon, and Russell Lewis. We get engineering support from Carleigh Strange and Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Stacey Abbott.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ukrainians spent last winter believing their troops were pushing Russia back. Last year we saw that. We were happy. The mood was at a high level. This winter arrives with less movement on the front and in U.S. aid. How can the U.S. help? I'm Michelle Martin, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. A humanitarian crisis is taking place in a California community as migrants cross the U.S.-Mexico border. My plan is just to get my green card and stay here all of my life. But why are hundreds setting up camp in Jacumba hot springs but with no resources? Also, a busy time for the airlines will be more so this holiday week.

The holidays have always been a time period that flight attendants sort of dread going to work. Tens of millions are expected to fly to their Thanksgiving destination, so what's in store? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. Now, Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to our change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, made a surprise visit to Ukraine to start the week. The United States stands with Ukraine, and we're going to be with them for the long haul. Ukraine also had a different visitor this week, snow.

And that matters because as temperatures drop, military strategists believe Russia may attack the power grid again. An additional U.S. aid to Ukraine, at least for the moment, is not guaranteed. NPR's Nathan Rod is in the Ukrainian capital with a status report. Hey there, Nate. Hey, good morning. Hope you've got your winter weather gear ready to go. Okay, good, and a good pair of boots. Why was Austin in Kiev this week, do you think?

So Austin says it was to show Ukrainian leadership that the U.S. is still committed to the country, as you heard him say, for the long haul. And that is, you know, certainly meaningful here with winter approaching, people bracing for more power blackouts and fighting slowing on the front lines, or at least expected to do. But I think Austin's audience wasn't just Ukrainian leadership. As you well know, U.S. Congress is still debating whether to approve a new block of funding for Ukraine that the Biden administration has been asking for. And the administration has said that current funding for Ukraine could run out in a couple of months. Yeah, when you think about it, I mean, every rocket that the Ukrainians fire,

every shell that they fire, that's money. That's often U.S. dollars. So how significant is it for Ukraine that the pipeline for funding, it's not at the end, but you could see an end? Yeah, I mean, look, if the U.S. stops giving military assistance to Ukraine, it would be a very big deal. But we're not there. The European Union is steadfast in its support, so Ukraine is still getting support. You know, supplying Ukrainian soldiers with tanks and missiles and trainings and other aid like air defense, winter gear, you know, here in Kyiv, and missiles and trainings and other aid like air defense, winter gear. You know, here in Kyiv, air defense systems have been critical to protecting people and critical infrastructure from Russian missile and drone strikes.

Both nights this weekend, Russia launched waves of drones at the capital. And the folks we've been talking to say that they expect those kinds of long range attacks to really ramp up here as temperatures drop and fighting slows on the front lines. Similar to previous winters, I guess. Exactly. I mean, yeah, last winter, Russia made a concerted effort to really make life miserable for as many people as they could here in Ukraine, attacking power plants, heating facilities, electrical infrastructure. We've seen how Ukraine is bracing for that again this winter. You know, they put in sandbags around electrical substations, repairing and restringing power lines. But there's no doubt that this is going to be a really tough winter ahead. Nate, I have to note, there were analysts and Ukrainians almost euphorically predicting big offensive gains this year, 2023. There was a much, much hyped offensive this year that seems to have

dropped off. Yeah, I mean, look, Ukraine, Russia, neither side has made significant territorial gains over most of the last year. And we were talking to soldiers about that in the Donetsk region, that's far eastern Ukraine last week, asking them how they're doing. They were saying, look, we're really tired. Here's an artillery man who goes by the call sign Zvin. Soldiers don't give their names because of security regulations. I think it's because we are not to see the movement. Yeah. So the movement,

and last year we saw that, we were happy with, so the mood was in a high level. And now we just, we understand what we will do, what the commanders will say, it's not a problem. But it just died.

And I think that's true for most people in Ukraine, Steve. NPR's Nathan Rott in Kyiv, thanks so much. Yeah, thank you. For many migrants, the first glimpse they get of America is three open-air camps in the cold. Migrants cross the border and are turning themselves in at the camps in Southern California, and they say it is the Border Patrol that is instructing them to wait in one of the open-air locations while they await processing. The camps are at the edge of Hocumba Hot Springs, California. The town has around 600 permanent residents and now also each day hundreds of temporary ones. NPR's Jasmine Garst visited these camps recently.

Hey there, Jasmine. Good morning. What did you experience? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the cold. It was so cold. I was wearing a jacket and I was freezing out there. And migrants, many underdressed, they end up making makeshift tents with pieces of tarp, sticks, old clothing. There's no water, there's no food, there's little to no bathrooms. And people get so cold, they pick up brush and make bonfires. I mean, it looked like a scene from a refugee camp, but the difference is there was no infrastructure or official human aid. I mean, we're talking about as many as 300 people at a time at each camp,

and many are children, and there's just no food provided. People have to go to the bathroom out in the open. Did you say there's no official humanitarian aid of the kind you would expect? No. I mean, in any other situation like this, you would expect to see the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, the National Guard. But here it's just locals from the town of Hacamba and volunteers going to hand out supplies and do basic first aid. I spoke to one woman named Karen Parker. She was born and raised in this area. She's a retired social worker and she goes down there a few times a week. She told me at times she's had to use veterinary medications on people. Here she's describing what she sees at these camps.

Gay bees, parasites, necrotic, scorpion bites. Seizures. Seizures. Diabetic emergency. Yes, broken bones, burns, lots of burns. And as winter approaches, she and other volunteers say they're getting increasingly worried. I want to zoom out a little bit from these camps and figure out what is happening here. Of course, you're on the U.S.-Mexico border. There are a lot of people who try to cross to different places. Exactly how are migrants getting to those three camps and why? So there's a gap in

the U.S.-Mexico border wall. It starts in Jacamba, and it's several miles long. And people cross through there and hand themselves over to Border Patrol asking for help. And Border Patrol takes them to these camps and tells them to wait. Wait a minute. They cross over and they find a Border Patrol agent and say hello? Yes. In fact, as I was driving down there, I was flagged by migrants from Turkey who had just crossed. They were exhausted and they asked me, please call Border Patrol. It was shocking, but these people have been told, this is how you will be allowed to stay in the U.S. I spoke to one young man at the camps. He is Kurdish from Turkey. His name is

Ramazan Bishar. He said he was escaping government repression, which is why he turned himself over to Border Patrol. My plan is just get my green card and stay here all of my life. We will stay. We don't have any choice. Okay, so that's a classic story, but why would it be that these particular migrants or asylum seekers would end up in these open-air camps out in the cold? Well, I asked Customs and Border Protection multiple times for an explanation. I've gotten no answer. I think one of the main problems is that official asylum processes can take months on end, and some people are getting desperate enough

to just cross the border on their own and hope for the best. NPS Jasmine Garst, thanks very much. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Millions of Americans, my family among them, will travel this week for Thanksgiving. The Transportation Security Administration, the TSA, is bracing for more air travelers than ever before. But this comes at a time when the U.S. aviation system is showing signs of strain. NPR's Joel Rose covers transportation and joins us now. Hey there, Joel.

Hey, Steve. Okay, at least I won't be flying. But those who do, what could they expect? Yeah, the number of people flying now is actually higher a little bit than it was before the pandemic. TSA is expecting to screen a record number of people, 30 million in total in the 12-day period that started last Friday, culminating on Sunday after Thanksgiving, which could be the biggest single-day total ever. Today and tomorrow are also going to be very busy. Road travel is not quite back to pre-pandemic levels yet, but it's close. AAA is forecasting the third highest total ever, about 49 million people on the roads. Can't wait to be one of them. Is the aviation system, though, ready for the increased volume?

There are serious concerns about that. The Federal Aviation Administration commissioned a safety review by outside experts after a series of close calls on runways across the country this year. That group issued a 52-page report last week, and the group had major concerns about the shortage of air traffic controllers that has left many key air traffic facilities short-staffed. That's forcing controllers to work overtime and grueling schedules. The group also raised concerns about outdated equipment and facilities. The report says, quote, urgent action is needed to maintain safety. Okay. Is the FAA having an urgent response? Well, the newly commissioned FAA administrator, Mike Whitaker, says the agency welcomed that

report. Whitaker told reporters yesterday the agency is already taking some steps to speed up the hiring of more air traffic controllers. That includes hiring qualified students directly from aeronautical schools and using new high-resolution training simulators to take some of the pressure off of the agency's training academy in Oklahoma. And Whitaker says he's also looking at ways to improve the success rate for trainees. There's a fairly high failure rate in the academy and in facilities. My initial focus has been on how to make these numbers go up quickly without lowering standards. But there really are no quick fixes here.

It takes a long time to train air traffic controllers. The FAA has a thousand fewer of them than it did a decade ago. And at the current hiring rate, it is just barely keeping up with retirements. Okay, let's assume the air traffic controllers keep the planes flying in the way that they should. What experiences should people expect in the way that they should. What experiences should people expect in the cabin when they're traveling? Full planes and crowded overhead bins. I talked to Sarah Nelson, who's the head of the union that represents flight attendants. Here's some of what she told me. The holidays have always been a time period that flight attendants sort of dread going

to work because the flying is much harder. You have inexperienced people. You're answering more questions. There's fewer of us, which then often means that passengers are trying to work things out between each other, and you don't have a referee there right at the start. Nelson says, please keep all of that in mind and be nice to your flight attendant and your fellow travelers. She says, thankfully, most people are. Excellent advice. Thanks very much, Joel. Really appreciate it.

You're welcome. That's NPR Transportation Correspondent, Joel Rose. And that's Up First for this Tuesday, November 21st. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm Michelle Martin. Up First is produced by Ana Perez, Claire Murashima, and Chad Campbell. Our editors are Michael Sullivan, Andrew DeLeon, and Russell Lewis. We get engineering support from Carly Strange and Arthur Loren, and our technical director is Stacey Abbott. Start your day here with us tomorrow.

And remember that when you support your local NPR radio station, you also support us. You can get started at donate.npr.org slash up first.