“About at the moment there are about 1,500 Ukrainians in Tijuana,” said Enrique Lucero, director of migrant affairs for the city. “We had a surprising influx in the last four days, especially as we started seeing arrivals from March 11 after the conflict.” and the number of people arriving has grown tremendously since then, Lucero said.
Inna Levien, who lives in Orange County, California, and is part of a group leading the way in volunteer efforts to help Ukrainians at the border, told DailyExpertNews the number of Ukrainians has quadrupled in the past three days.
Lucero told DailyExpertNews that while he expects all migrants to enter the US, US authorities have been slow to process them, which is why so many people have gathered.
“They process about 100, 150 a day or even 200 a day and it takes almost three hours to process them,” Lucero said. †That is why we saw this mini campsite on the border.”
DailyExpertNews contacted the State Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but received no response on Saturday.
Give a little relief
Levien’s volunteer group — made up of California moms who met on Facebook — has provided prospective families with essentials such as food, blankets, tents and toys to keep their kids entertained.
Those who can financially are encouraged to stay in hotels, which cost about $40-60 per night, Levien said.
The group also helps by listing the people arriving at the border and assigning them a number so they don’t have to queue all the time waiting to get in – a wait that is more than May take 24 hours.
But the city of Tijuana has also played an important role in providing some relief, Levien said: The city recently converted a bus stop into temporary shelter, while a network of churches has been established to help families waiting their turn to enter. are being treated.
The city is also working to convert a sports facility into temporary shelter, Lucero said.
“We’ve been told that there will be about 500 migrants arriving on these next flights, so that would increase to 2,000 over the course of the day,” he said.
DailyExpertNews’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.