The Benito Juarez sports complex in Tijuana, Mexico, has become a hub for Ukrainian refugees on their way to the United States. On Monday, the Biden administration began a new refugee plan for Ukrainians fleeing
the Russian invasion
of their home country.
“Uniting for Ukraine” will allow U.S. citizens and nongovernmental organizations to sponsor Ukrainian refugees, who will receive a two-year humanitarian parole to the U.S., as well as an authorization to work. Over the past few weeks, efforts to assist the Ukrainians’ passage to the U.S. have been extensive. On arrival at the sports complex, Ukrainians receive a registration number. While waiting to be called for processing by border officials, they have access to plentiful food, places to rest, and assistance from volunteers.
Processing is occurring at an unprecedented pace, according to
BuzzFeed News
. Where U.S. Customs and Border Protection could once only process 50-80 asylum-seekers on a given day, the agency is now “processing hundreds of people a day, sometimes as many as 1,000.” After processing, the Mexican government buses refugees at a time to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Perhaps
15,000 Ukrainians
have recently entered the U.S. from Tijuana. Considering the rapidity of the processing, the number could be higher. Neither the State Department nor U.S. Customs and Border Protection responded to requests for an updated count of the number of Ukrainian refugees processed in Tijuana.
The experience for Ukrainians at the border has been vastly different from that of refugees from other countries. BuzzFeed demonstrated how the current orderly layout of the Benito Juarez sports complex contrasts with more haphazard conditions for Central American migrants who were held around the facility in 2018. The Ukrainians’ circumstances are also vastly improved compared to those of refugees who currently live in camps throughout Tijuana.
One
Mexican
volunteer at the Benito Juarez complex, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, said he was “glad to help the Ukrainian people [because he] knew they were coming from a very bad situation.” He noticed tremendous disparities, though, while he toured two of around two dozen Tijuana shelters. One camp, run by a local church, had just three full-time and two part-time volunteers to care for over 1,000 refugees from political unrest of cartel violence in Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, and Mexico. Though the shelters were set up to be temporary facilities, he said that some migrant families had been there for one to two years, with only one family being processed each year.
While Central American migrants had adequate food stores, he said they were short on medical supplies, diapers, and other necessities. The children had no toys. Though he “didn’t want to start to speak ill of America, [he] couldn’t stand by when [he] noticed it’s very different treatment. … And the only [difference] that comes to mind is the color of [refugees’] skin.”
The Biden administration’s response toward Ukraine refugees shows how nimbly the government can respond to immigration crises. The administration has not chosen to create such a rapid response for Central American refugees or for the
tens of thousands
of Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, humanitarian visa parole applicants, or holders of referrals to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program left behind after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Humans fleeing violence and oppression, and especially those who, like our Afghan allies, risked their lives to work beside Americans, deserve a more rapid response from the U.S. government.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
