With people across the world displaced every year by war, poverty and even their own governments, many have sought to pursue safety and a new life here in America. The Ukrainian humanitarian crisis has highlighted the double standard of our country’s immigration policies and the way we treat refugees and asylum seekers.
The Biden Administration announced on March 24 that the U.S. will accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and donate $1 billion to European countries facing the humanitarian crisis. This has drawn criticism on how the country has handled the ongoing surge of Central Americans, Caribbeans and other displaced people seeking asylum.
Rightfully so, Ukrainian refugees deserve to escape the invasion of their country by Russian forces. In less than a month, many Ukrainians were forced to make a difficult decision about staying home or fleeing their country, both options coming with significant struggles and uncertainty for the future.
The U.S. and several European countries were swift to mitigate the crisis, but my question is: Where is this bipartisan support for brown and black refugees on the U.S.-Mexico border?
From fleeing violence from drug cartels and gangs to escaping poverty and oppressive governments, does this not constitute swift actions to better handle the surge and actually assist people the same way Ukrainians are being helped by the U.S.?
For the past month, stories have circulated about how Ukrainian refugees are being allowed to enter within minutes of arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. Central Americans and asylum seekers from other nations have been repeatedly denied and remained in Mexico, where they face violence, discrimination and even death, according to published reports.
For example, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana, Mexico, Central Americans, Mexicans and Haitian migrants have been waiting for weeks, months and some even years to even get a chance to seek asylum.
The long wait is now being compared to some Ukrainian families being allowed to cross within minutes of arriving at the port of entry. A memo obtained by CNN shows officers at the border are being instructed to consider exempting Ukrainians on a case-by-case basis from U.S. public health restrictions.
This is part of an ongoing Trump policy, Title 42, which was issued to limit the number of asylum seekers allowed entry into the U.S. to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. As of press time Friday, Title 42 is still in place under the Biden Administration.
The now two-year policy has denied people seeking asylum 1.7 million times and has forced them back to their countries or onto the Mexican side of the border, where they wait for another chance, according to a March 30 article from The Hill.
With COVID-19 cases declining, why is this policy still in place when thousands of people move across ports of entry every single day? Why is it that Ukrainians are exempt from this?
Both groups of displaced people are facing unimaginable hardships and struggles, but what is the difference?
The difference is how different groups of people are treated.
On one side, you have president Biden greeting Ukrainian refugees in Poland, speaking with them, hoisting up children in his arms and being welcoming.
However, when Haitian migrants arrived in Del Rio, Texas, they were greeted with a different welcome. Border Patrol agents on horseback allegedly aggressively pushed the Haitian migrants back into the Rio Grande and did not let them cross into the U.S. to officially seek asylum, according to the Associated Press.
Is one group’s experience and struggles worth more humanity than the other?
At the end of the day, these double standards are loudly telling us something about the value placed upon human life and how that varies with different groups of people–a double standard.
I just want and hope that all walks of life, from Ukrainian to Mexican to Haitian, and any other people that are displaced, are treated like human beings when seeking asylum.
