Ukrainian Refugees Encounter Immigration Laws at the U.S.-Mexico Border

U.S. border agents have expelled many Russian and Ukrainian asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. (Flickr)

As thousands of Ukrainians flee their country due to the Russian invasion, the U.S.-Mexico border has witnessed an influx of Ukrainian asylum seekers. However, border patrol officials have refused many  Ukrainians—alongside asylum seekers from Mexico, Central America, Haiti, and even Turkey—because of a COVID-19-related public health order known as Title 42. 

Title 42 is an immigration-related public health order that was put into effect at the end of the Trump presidency. This controversial regulation authorizes U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to refuse asylum seekers entry to the United States in order to prevent communicable diseases such as COVID-19 from spreading. The CDC reported that the Biden administration has taken steps to reduce the harshness of Title 42, such as exempting unaccompanied child migrants.

Time reported that the number of encounters between the U.S. border agents and Ukrainians and Russians increased 753% between the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years. Furthermore, the number of migrant encounters reported at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022 has already surpassed those from previous years.

In recent weeks, the United States expelled many Ukrainian asylum seekers under Title 42. Al Jazeera reported that in one case, the United States deported a family of four, a single mother and her three children, after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana. International backlash erupted across social media after this incident. As a result, the family temporarily regained entry into the United States. 

A crucial element of Title 42 is its connection to non-refoulement. According to the UNHCR 1951 Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, non-refoulement prohibits countries from deporting any migrants to countries that would pose a threat to the migrant’s wellbeing. As asylum seekers continue to flee dangerous situations at home, non-refoulement has become increasingly important and controversial. Still, they face deportation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Despite certain refugee turnarounds, in recent days, certain measures have been put in place to allow these Ukrainian migrants into the United States. As one CBP officer puts it, the country is temporarily allowing asylum seekers one year of “humanitarian parole.” These exemptions for Title 42, however, are awarded to asylum seekers on a case-by-case basis, and thus Title 42 and CBP discretion remain crucial in determining whether or not a migrant may legally enter the United States.