In wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine an estimated 4 million Ukrianians have fled their home country to both neighbors and destinations abroad, including the United States. Encouraged by the Biden administration’s recent promise to receive 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, Ukrainians have started to flock to ports of entry at the US-Mexico border. However, the US immigration system proves once again to be inept at timely and efficient processing.
More than 2,000 Ukrianians have arrived in Tijuana, Mexico in order to start their processing in US immigration with an estimated 400 from this weekend alone. At the processing unit refugees are writing their names down on a legal pad that has become the de facto waiting list that continues to grow by the day.
Tijuana appears to be the chosen destination by the Ukrainian refugees as many are being told that if they are without legal documents they should fly to Mexico, where they don’t need a visa, and then cross over to the US from Tijuana. However, the Ukrainian refugees are finding themselves confronted by the same obstacles that central american migrants have been facing. Those that chose to cross the border illegally are being detained for weeks as they are processed by ICE. There are approximately 120 Ukrainians in ICE custody currently. Of the thousands that are waiting to be processed legally, they find themselves waiting for days on end.
Despite the Biden administration’s announcement of US’s readiness to start receiving Ukrainians no actual resettlement programs or visa processes have been set up leaving the Ukrainians backlogged at the border not unlike other would-be asylum seekers. Some are waiting in encampments due to resistance towards Mexican shelters, while other Ukrainians are now being moved to a sports center turned government shelter in Tijuana.
The recent surge of Ukrainians at the border comes just as the Biden administration announces plans to end Title 42, the Trump-era immigration policy that was used as a deterrence to immigration. In light of this the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has started preparing for anticipated surges at the border as Ukrainians and Central Americans alike start to come in new waves. As of Friday Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S DHS stated that they have already sent 600 agents to the south west border at undisclosed locations and are attempting to greatly expand their processing capacities in a short time. In a recent announcement by the DHS, the department outlines its strategies to expedite asylum claims and other processes and use considerable funds to surge personnel and increase temporary holding capacity. It also plans to start using Title 8, a measure that provides harsher punishment for illegal crossings such as future prevention to immigration benefits, as a potential deterrent.
It is unclear how the Biden administration will resettle its promised 100,000 Ukrainians or how DHS will fare under the imminent strain of Title 42’s withdrawal, but it is clear that the next couple of months are going to be volatile for the US immigration system.