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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – Thousands of Ukrainians fly to Mexico and then cross into the United States near San Diego.
For about a month now, volunteers have been setting up a makeshift camp to greet refugees as they pass through the entrance port of San Isidro in Tijuana, Mexico.
The volunteers greeted them with applause and applause, one after the other, each with a similar story: a few days of travel, a grueling trip, and worries about the future.
Alona Bastis welcomed her sister Irina this week.
Irina spent several days on airplanes and at a processing center in Mexico.
“There are no words to describe how we feel,” Bastis said.
Elena Fetisova greeted her teenage sister in Tijuana on the fifth day of her trip from Ukraine.
“My sister is 15 and comes straight from Ukraine,” Fetisova said.
Elena Fetisova, 34, congratulated her 15-year-old sister in Tijuana, Mexico, after her sister fled Ukraine and flew west to reach the United States. (Elena Fetisova) (Fox News)
And 22-year-old Natalia Povod was studying abroad in the Czech Republic when the war broke out. Her program ended this month.
“I had to go home in April. But I realized I couldn’t go home,” Povod said.
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Ever since the war started, 4.6 million people have fled Ukrainemany in nearby European countries, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR).
“I talked to this lady. She is 62 years old. He had his own hair salon and just didn’t want to leave. It’s like, this is my home, “said Alina Gordon, founder of the Church of Music in San Diego and a volunteer at the border. The night before she decided to leave, a phosphorus bomb was dropped in front of her apartment.
Churches, non-profit organizations and other organizations help people on both sides of the border by providing food, water, hot drinks, blankets and even books and toys for children.
They also offer transportation, temporary housing and free legal services.
Alina Gordon says she immigrated to the United States from Ukraine with her parents in 1994.
“They left everything behind. But the difference then from what’s happening now is that we had a year to prepare for immigration,” Gordon said. “Most of the families I meet right now, 99.9% are left overnight. And they have a backpack with them. And most of their belongings are still in Ukraine.”
Volunteers set up makeshift camp on southwestern border in Tijuana, Mexico, for Ukrainian refugees trying to cross into the United States (Alona Bastis) (Fox News)
Immigration lawyers say strict visa requirements, missing documents and pandemic restrictions make it difficult for Ukrainians to enter the United States legally
Crossing Mexico and then applying for asylum at the border is faster.
“It doesn’t matter where you are from. If you want to enter the United States, you have to have some documentation to enter. We usually have that in our passports,” said Alejandro San Miguel, an immigration attorney in McAllen, Texas, on the southwest border. “People who do not have this can always come to its port of entry and seek asylum.”
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Resolving asylum applications in the United States can take years, but for many, reaching American soil is a victory.
“I feel I’m in the right place right now,” said Povod. “And I had the feeling that when you just cross the border and go out, a lot of people just help … So I feel like you’re home.”
For Elena Fetisova, she tries to keep in touch with her family in Ukraine every day.
“I call them every day (and say) (Hey, are you alive there?”
Fetisova, 34, moved to the United States when she was 19 years old. Her sister, who arrived on Monday, is only 15 years old.
“It was very difficult for her to even fly here through Mexico City. They just put her in the room. She was not told anything until her passport and her phone and the poor child sat there for about an hour and she did not know what to do. So it was very scary, “Fetisova said.
Volunteers say they have seen the number of Ukrainians crossing increase from a few dozen in mid-March to thousands, many of them women and children.
“We’ve gone from processing about 100 to 150 refugees a day, so far they’re processing about 50 every two hours,” Gordon said.
Customs and border protection updates their website each month with the data from the previous month for illegal crossings and meetings.
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The March figures were not released as of April 13, and a CBP spokesman declined to release them directly to Fox News before going online.
CBS News reports that nearly 10,000 Ukrainians without proper documentation passed between February 1 and April 6, but CBP will not confirm these figures to Fox News. They also reported 41,000 “legal entries” for Ukrainians entering the United States with appropriate documents such as visas and passports.
President Biden said the United States would accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the country, but the administration did not provide further details.
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