A Surge in Ukrainian Refugees at California’s Southern Border

A growing number of Ukrainians are seeking entry into California from Tijuana. A new chapter in the Ukrainian refugee crisis is playing out along California’s southern border. As Russia continues its brutal invasion of Ukraine, more than 2,000 Ukrainians have made their way to the Mexican side of the border in the last 10 days in the hope of gaining entry into the United States, my colleague Miriam Jordan reported in today’s newspaper, and many of them have flooded into Tijuana. The immigrants sometimes wait days to be allowed entry into California. The surge has created confusion and a backlog, and has drawn volunteers from across the state who are trying to provide shelter, food and other assistance. “The system at the border is incredibly inefficient,” Olya Krasnykh, who took time off from her real estate development job in San Mateo to help, told Miriam. “I don’t know how long we can sustain the volunteer-run effort.” The war in Ukraine, entering its seventh week, continues its murderous course. Russia is scrambling for more soldiers after facing logistics problems and devastating casualties, as a litany of horrors keeps unfolding across Ukraine. Since the invasion began, roughly 4.3 million Ukrainians have fled their country, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. Many have escaped to Poland, Romania or other nearby European nations. President Biden announced last month that the United States would accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, but details about the program have not been released, prompting some refugees to seek entry more quickly. As Miriam wrote, Ukrainians who can afford the journey are traveling to Mexico, a country they can enter without a visa, to try to seek asylum in the United States, a country they cannot. That has led to a stream of Ukrainians entering California in recent days. A church in the San Diego area has been converted into a place to sleep for new arrivals with nowhere else to go. It’s likely that many of the new arrivals will eventually join relatives in the New York region, which is home to more Ukrainian immigrants than anywhere else in the nation. Some, however, may stay in California. Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego are also among the nation’s biggest Ukrainian population centers, according to the Migration Policy Institute. And the Sacramento area has the highest concentration relative to its size: One in every 125 residents is of Ukrainian descent. One Ukrainian refugee who is now staying in San Diego told KQED about her path to the United States: She flew to Germany with her two young daughters, then to Mexico City and then to Tijuana. A family friend crossed over from San Diego to pick them up and drive them back into California. Once at the passport control booth on U.S. soil, the woman, whom KQED identified only as Maryna, told Customs and Border Protection officers that her family was seeking asylum. Though she was relieved to have made it into the country, she still thought about what she left behind. “At night, I couldn’t sleep because of the emotions,” because her family was far away, she told the news outlet. “Yes, everything is pretty, everything is great here, but I can’t enjoy it or relax.” Visit us for more information at: http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html