In the same place, about 10 months ago, several thousand migrants from several Central American countries, the vast majority of whom were Haitians, were violently chased by U.S. customs agents. While some of them were allowed to submit their asylum applications, the vast majority were sent back to their country of origin.
To justify their decision, the American authorities had put forward the improvement of security conditions in these countries, particularly Haiti, whose president had just been assassinated, followed by a violent earthquake in the southern region of the country. This had provoked the anger of human rights organizations. Several high-level employees of the U.S. administration had also resigned in protest of the treatment of Haitian migrants.
While applauding the U.S. decision to accept migrants from Ukraine, several activists and migrant rights advocates in the U.S. lamented the fact that black immigrants had not received the same treatment. “It is estimated that there are over 1,000 Ukrainians waiting in Tijuana for a bus ride to the U.S. border. This is the same place where Caribbean and Latin American asylum seekers had gathered before – and they say they still need help, too.”, CBSMorning noted.
As Ukrainians continue to flee the situation in their country caused by the Russian invasion, the U.S. administration decided to take in 100 thousand Ukrainian refugees. Several thousand of them had decided to travel to Mexico in order to seek asylum in the United States.
On April 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the cancellation of Title 42, which was implemented under the administration of Donald Trump and allowed the government to deport immigrants without giving them the chance to apply for asylum. Anticipating the massive movement at the southern border, Joe Biden’s administration has already begun building temporary shelters and increasing the presence of customs agents at border points. But Democrats fear the issue will be used politically in the run-up to the mid-term elections in November. Whatever the level of discord between Democrats and Republicans, illegal Ukrainian immigrants should have no problem being accepted into the United States. This is not the case for Caribbean and Latin American migrants. Depending on whether you are European or Central American: your asylum application will be treated differently by Uncle Sam.