{"id":20759,"date":"2022-04-11T12:39:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T12:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/04\/11\/u-s-officials-processed-9926-undocumented-ukrainians-in-last-2-months-data-show\/"},"modified":"2022-04-11T12:39:18","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T12:39:18","slug":"u-s-officials-processed-9926-undocumented-ukrainians-in-last-2-months-data-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/04\/11\/u-s-officials-processed-9926-undocumented-ukrainians-in-last-2-months-data-show\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. officials processed 9,926 undocumented Ukrainians in last 2 months, data show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nearly 10,000 Ukrainians without permission to enter the United States have been prosecuted by border officials in the past two months, as thousands of refugees were displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. they have traveled<\/span> in Mexico in hopes of seeking refuge in the United States, according to internal data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obtained by CBS News.<\/p>\n

Between February 1 and April 6, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that 9,926 Ukrainians had been found without the necessary legal documentation to enter the country, according to statistics. of the unpublished agency. On April 6 alone, 767 Ukrainian migrants were prosecuted by the CBP.<\/p>\n

The figures show a dramatic increase in the number of Ukrainians entering US border custody in recent weeks. In February, CBP officials reported that they found 1,147 undocumented Ukrainians, including 272 migrants on the border with Mexico, according to public agency data. the invasion of Russia<\/span> began on February 24th.<\/p>\n

Between February 1 and April 6, CBP also reported 41,074 “legal tickets” for Ukrainians who were allowed to enter the United States, which may include visas issued by the United States to short-term travelers. including tourists, or immigrants with a U.S. residence permit. permanently, show internal agency data.<\/p>\n

The invasion of Russia caused the largest displacement crisis since World War II, causing 4.4 million refugees to flee to other European countries in just over two months. Although the vast majority of displaced Ukrainians remain in Europe, a growing number have tried to reach the US<\/p>\n

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Refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine are awaiting the processing of their applications along the US border in Tijuana, Mexico, on April 9, 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

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PATRICK T. FALLON \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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On March 24, President Biden promised to receive up to 100,000 Ukrainians displaced by the war for an indefinite period of time. But the administration has not yet announced any concrete steps to achieve the ambitious plan and speed up a visa and refugee process that normally takes months and years to complete.<\/p>\n

Faced with limited direct routes to the United States, thousands of Ukrainians have embarked on a one-day trek to Mexico that typically includes several flights to the southern U.S. border, where officials have received the order to admit Ukrainians, despite the entry into the era of the pandemic. restrictions<\/span> for other migrants. <\/p>\n

It is unclear how many of the 9,926 Ukrainians prosecuted by U.S. border officials were able to enter the country. CBP did not respond to requests to comment on the data and provide additional statistics.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented wave of Ukrainians traveling to Mexico hoping to enter the U.S. is a symptom of a dysfunctional, backward immigration system that is not designed to respond to growing refugee crises, especially after numerous restrictions from the Trump era and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts. dit.<\/p>\n

“The fact that Ukrainians are traveling to Mexico and trying their luck on the US-Mexico border as the fastest option only shows how slow and clogged our immigration system is,” said Julia Gelatt, an analyst at Institute of Non-Partisan Migration Policy. . “We don’t really have a quick response part of our immigration system that can create avenues for people in an emergency.”<\/p>\n

This broken immigration system is fully on display in Tijuana, Mexico, where a group of volunteers from Slavic churches in the U.S. has created an ad hoc process to list Ukrainians so they can wait their turn to report to northern officials. -Americans at the San Ysidro Border Pass in Southern California.<\/p>\n

Once their numbers increase, families and adults in Ukraine can generally enter the United States after a trial and are granted a year of humanitarian parole, which allows them to work and live legally in the United States. On March 11, U.S. border officials were directed<\/span> Consider exempting Ukrainians from Title 42, the pandemic-era rule that has blocked many Latin American migrants from seeking asylum. <\/p>\n

A small number of unaccompanied Ukrainian children<\/span> They are also seeking entry to the San Ysidro Pass, according to a U.S. official and lawyers in Tijuana, but are being transferred to government shelters that typically house Central American migrant children, as required by a 2008 anti-trafficking law.<\/p>\n

Olya Krasnykh, one of the U.S. volunteers who help Ukrainians arriving in Tijuana, said the waiting list is designed to ensure that the processing of Ukrainians is a bit orderly, as U.S. border authorities limit the number of individuals that can be admitted to a few hundred per day.<\/p>\n

But Krasnykh said most of this work should be done by governments, not a loose team of volunteers. Mexican officials in Tijuana have agreed to provide temporary housing to Ukrainians, but Krasnykh said makeshift shelters, including a recreation center gym, are rapidly running out of space.<\/p>\n

“The situation really needs to change because the numbers are staggering and we’re at our best,” Krasnykh, a California resident, told CBS News. “Many of us haven’t slept at all. It’s just not sustainable.” <\/p>\n

CBP’s internal statistics also show an increase in the number of Russians entering US border custody, and the agency reports that it has prosecuted 5,207 migrants from Russia since February 1. Just over 2,000 Russians entered CBP custody in February, including 769 migrants on the Mexican border, according to agency figures. .<\/p>\n

Unlike the US, Mexico has no visa requirements for Ukrainian travelers. According to Ukrainian families and volunteers, most Ukrainians fly to Cancun or Mexico City from Europe and then embark on a second flight to Tijuana.<\/p>\n

Natalia Kozlov, 24, said she arrived in Tijuana on the night of April 6 with her husband Mihail, 23, and her 7-month-old baby after a two-day trip from Warsaw. which included stops in Paris and Cancun.<\/p>\n

The young couple said they had been living in Poland since last autumn, when they fled the conflict between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government in the eastern Donetsk region. But the couple said they had no relatives in Poland and that returning to Ukraine after the outbreak of war was not an option.<\/p>\n

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Natalia Kozlov, Mihail Kozlov and her 7-month-old baby waiting to be prosecuted on the US-Mexico border.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Olya Krasnykh<\/p>\n

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After learning that U.S. border officials were allowing displaced Ukrainians to enter the country, Natalia and Mihail said they arranged for the trip to Mexico with the help of Natalia’s relatives, who live in Colorado. They said they could not come directly to the US because they do not have visas.<\/p>\n

Natalia said the United States should establish an easier immigration process for Ukrainians with relatives in the U.S. so that desperate families do not have to travel to Mexico, noting that it has been difficult for their baby. . <\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be a great relief, especially for families with children,\u201d Natalia said Friday through an interpreter. “If there was an easier way to get to the US, it would only be a lot of stress.”<\/p>\n

But legal immigration routes for Ukrainians who want to enter the US quickly remain scarce.<\/p>\n

Visa applicants, for example, face long waiting times due to limited processing capacity at U.S. consulates and a backlog of applications that was exacerbated by the pandemic. They may also not be able to prove their eligibility for temporary visas, as these require proof that applicants intend to return to their country of origin.<\/p>\n

The refugee process, which allows those fleeing persecution to move to the United States, currently takes 18 to 24 months to complete due to interviews, security checks, and medical examinations. The US has also said that Ukrainians must be in third countries “where they cannot be protected” to be eligible for resettlement.<\/p>\n

In March, the United States resettled only 12 Ukrainian refugees, who were probably in the process of resettling before the Russian invasion, according to State Department figures.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CBS Evening News presenter and editor-in-chief Norah O’Donnell last week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the United States is “exploring other avenues for [Ukrainians] There is no need to fly to another country and seek help. “But he noted that” this is not a quick process. “<\/p>\n

“We are seeing desperate Ukrainians. We have seen horrible images of Ukraine,” Mayorkas said, calling the invasion of Russia “inhuman.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Tijuana, Natalia and her family had to interrupt the interview on Friday. Her number on the waiting list to show up at the U.S. port of entry, 2,227, had arrived.<\/p>\n

Asked how she would feel if she was allowed to enter the United States, Natalia replied in English, “Very, very happy.”<\/p>\n

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