TIJUANA, Mexico—Just outside the Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana, Mexico, trash blew in the wind near a former encampment area that once housed thousands of Central and South American migrants seeking to cross into the United States.
The property now has a new use: temporarily housing Ukrainian refugees fleeing war.
“We are trying to provide a sense of normalcy here in Tijuana,” volunteer medical coordinator Inna Leviem of Orange County, California, told The Epoch Times. “For some, the journey took weeks to get to this point as they flee the war.”
Just behind Leviem, a child who appeared to be about 7 years old and wearing a dinosaur t-shirt was coloring at an arts and crafts table set up for the children of the refugee camp.
Deeply focused on his craft, he could be seen coloring the Ukrainian national flag with blue and yellow markers.
“When I came, I showed up with two other volunteers and we brought a teakettle, extension cord, foldable cable, and toys for kids and empty bags,” she said. “So when people realize that we’re going to have tea in their place of stay and that [they’re] going to have a normal toilet paper—not an old newspaper—this is something that actually brings the humanity back in their life as they transition out of the war.”
According to Leviem, many of the Ukrainian families sleeping on the provided bunk beds and mats within the gymnasium area of the sports complex have experienced extreme emotional hardships caused by the horrific circumstances of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We deal with lots of trauma here,” she said. “People talk about how their homes got destroyed or how their neighbors got shot ... or how they were comforting a 2-day old baby after the mother got killed by Russian soldiers. You just want to hold these people tight with what they have been through.”
The roughly 40 volunteers assisting the Ukrainians are mostly made up of Christian organizations from Tijuana, California, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Washington—not only to help provide the refugees with medical and logistical assistance, but also to help coordinate their meetings with Customs and Border Protection agents as they seek asylum in the United States.
“The past three days, the Mexican officers have been calling me and requesting me to ‘please pick up your Ukrainians from the border,’” refugee camp volunteer leader Vlad Fedozyshyr told The Epoch Times. “They are trying to cross the border into San Diego by car or by walking, but you can no longer do that at this time. You must now go to Mexico City for this access.”
The Department of Homeland Security extended Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainians affected by the war last month, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection sent 24 additional agents to the San Ysidro port of entry, the country’s busiest entry point, to assist with the processing of refugees.
While overseeing volunteers assisting the refugees, Fedozyshyr said that Ukrainians fleeing the war are most likely entering through the San Ysidro port of entry because of Mexico’s lax visa policies, along with taking advantage of cheaper flights into Mexico instead of into the United States.
“We have also been blessed to have everything we need in this camp because God has provided through people,” he said. “But the next step in the process will be to [relocate] the camp to Mexico City, where the U.S. Embassy can process the refugees.”
Mexico City’s Ukrainian refugee camp will provide enough beds for up to 1,000 people, according to Fedozyshyr, and like other volunteers, he emphasized the importance of Ukrainians traveling there instead of Tijuana so that they won’t be turned away.
“There is no way for them to cross the border into San Diego at this moment, so we want to move everything to Mexico City and establish a new hub to help the refugees,” he said.
As Fedozyshyr went to assist a group of volunteers awaiting orders at the outdoor sports complex basketball court, a woman wearing blue scrubs was seen sitting in the shade handing out small treats to refugees and volunteers alike.
“Giving out these candies puts a smile on their face,” Dora Griselda Beltrán Ramierz of Tijuana told The Epoch Times. “You are giving them a brief moment of comfort and happiness, and that is needed right now.”
While volunteering at the refugee camp, Beltrán Ramierz, a mother and geriatric care student, noticed it was something small that she could do to serve the people.
“Emotional support is so needed here with what they have gone through these last few weeks,” Beltrán Ramierz said. “I am heartbroken for what has happened to them, and I want to make a good memory for them while they wait to cross over.”
Standing visible just 1,000 feet north of Beltrán Ramierz’s location was the U.S. side of the border wall, where Ukrainians are being offered temporary humanitarian parole.
Last month, the Biden administration announced in a statement that it would “welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing Russia’s aggression through the full range of legal pathways, including the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.”
According to ReliefWeb, on average, Ukrainians wait one to three days in Mexico to cross into the United States.
“This war has just made a big hole in their hearts and souls,” Leviem said. “So I am also here and ready to give out hugs.”
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