Over the past 2 months, almost 10 Ukrainians have tried to cross the US border: what is happening to them - ForumDaily
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Over the past 2 months, almost 10 Ukrainians have tried to cross the US border: what is happening to them

U.S. border officials have processed nearly 10 undocumented Ukrainians in the past two months, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) figures, as thousands of refugees displaced by Russia's war in Ukraine traveled to Mexico hoping to seek asylum in the U.S. CBS.

Photo: Shutterstock

Between February 1 and April 6, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 9926 Ukrainians who did not have the legal documents required to enter the country, according to unreleased agency statistics. On April 6 alone, CBP processed the data of 767 Ukrainian migrants.

The vast majority of Ukrainians attempted to enter official ports of entry rather than crossing the border illegally.

The figures show a sharp increase in the number of Ukrainians at the US border over the past few weeks. According to the state agency, in February, CBP officials reported 1147 Ukrainians without the necessary documents.

On the subject: A 17-year-old Ukrainian woman who wanted to cross the US border was arrested and has been detained for several days

Between Feb. 1 and April 6, CBP also reported 41 "legal entries" of Ukrainians who had U.S. clearance, including visas that the U.S. issues to short-term travelers, including tourists or immigrants who are allowed to permanently reside in the U.S. according to the agency's internal data.

The Russian invasion triggered the largest displacement crisis since World War II, sending 4,4 million refugees to other European countries in just over two months. While the vast majority of displaced Ukrainians remain in Europe, a growing number are striving to reach the United States.

On March 24, President Biden pledged to take in up to 100 Ukrainians displaced by the war over an indefinite period of time. But the administration has yet to announce any concrete steps to implement the ambitious plan and speed up the visa and refugee status process, which usually takes months and years.

Faced with limited direct routes to the U.S., thousands of Ukrainians embarked on a multi-day journey to Mexico, which usually includes multiple flights, to reach the U.S. southern border, where authorities have been instructed to consider admitting Ukrainians despite the pandemic, which is a constraint. for entry for other migrants.

It is not clear how many of these 9 Ukrainians were allowed into the country. CBP did not respond to requests for comment and additional statistics.

The unprecedented wave of Ukrainians heading to Mexico hoping to reach the US is symptomatic of a dysfunctional and stagnant immigration system that is not designed to respond to growing refugee crises, especially after the many Trump-era restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.

“The fact that Ukrainians are going to Mexico to try their luck at the US-Mexico border as the fastest option just shows how slow and clogged our immigration system is,” said Julia Gelatt, an analyst at the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute.

“We don't really have a rapid response part of our immigration system that can create pathways for people in an emergency,” she added.

This broken immigration system is on full display in Tijuana, Mexico, where a group of volunteers from Slavic churches in the US set up a special process for listing Ukrainians so they can wait their turn to communicate with US officials.

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Once their numbers increase, families and adults from Ukraine are generally allowed to enter the US after some processing and are granted one year of humanitarian parole, allowing them to work and live in the US legally. On March 11, U.S. border officials were instructed to consider exempting Ukrainians from Section 42, a pandemic-era rule that kept many Latin American migrants from seeking asylum.

A number of unaccompanied Ukrainian children also attempt to enter the San Ysidro checkpoint, but are transferred to government-run shelters that typically house Central American migrant children as required by a 2008 law, according to a U.S. official and lawyers in Tijuana. about human trafficking.

Olya Krasnykh, one of the U.S. volunteers helping Ukrainians arriving in Tijuana, said the waiting list is meant to ensure that the processing of Ukrainians is somewhat orderly, as U.S. border guards limit the number of people that can be admitted to a few hundred per day. .

But Krasnykh said the bulk of this work should be done by governments, not by a scattered team of volunteers. Mexican officials in Tijuana have agreed to provide Ukrainians with temporary housing, but Krasnykh said places in makeshift shelters, including a gym at a recreation center, are quickly filling up.

“Things really need to change because the numbers are staggering and we're running at full capacity,” the California Reds resident said. “Many of us didn’t sleep at all.”

Internal CBP statistics also show an increase in the number of Russians at the US border: since February 1, the agency has reported processing the data of 5 migrants from Russia.

Unlike the US, Mexico does not require a visa for Ukrainian travelers. According to Ukrainian families and volunteers, most Ukrainians fly to Cancun or Mexico City from Europe and then board a flight to Tijuana.

Natalia Kozlova, 24, said she arrived in Tijuana on the night of April 6 with her husband, Mikhail, 23, and their 7-month-old baby after a two-day trip from Warsaw, with stops in Paris and Cancun.

The young couple said they have been living in Poland since last fall, when they fled the conflict between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government in the eastern region of Donetsk. But they have no relatives in Poland and returning to Ukraine after the start of the war is not an option.

Upon learning that US border guards were allowing displaced persons from Ukraine to enter the country, Natalia and Mikhail said they arranged the trip to Mexico with the help of Natalia's family members who live in Colorado. They said they couldn't come directly to the US because they didn't have a visa.

Natalia said the US should make the immigration process easier for Ukrainians with family members in the US so that desperate families don't have to travel to Mexico, which she says was difficult for her child.

“This would be a big relief, especially for families with children,” Natalya said through a translator on April 8. “If there was an easier way to get to the US, it would just take a lot of the stress away.”

But there are still few legal immigration routes for Ukrainians who want to quickly get to the United States.

For example, visa applicants are facing long waits due to limited processing capacity at US consulates and a high volume of applications exacerbated by the pandemic. They may also be unable to prove eligibility for a temporary visa, as this requires proof that applicants intend to return to their country.

The process for granting refugee status, which allows those fleeing persecution to move to the US, currently takes 18 to 24 months due to interviews, security checks and medical checks. The US also said that Ukrainians must be in third countries "where they cannot be protected" to be eligible for resettlement.

In March, the US resettled just 12 Ukrainian refugees who were likely in the process of being resettled prior to the Russian invasion, according to the State Department.

Alejandro Majorcas said the US is "exploring other options so that Ukrainians don't have to fly to another country and look for help." But he noted that “this is not a quick process” and that he understands why Ukrainians fly to Mexico.

“We see Ukrainians in despair. We saw horrifying footage from Ukraine,” Mallorcas said, calling the Russian invasion “inhumane.”

Meanwhile, in Tijuana, Natalia, when asked how she would feel if she was allowed to enter the United States, replied in English: "I would be very, very happy."

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