“Dozens” of Ukrainian families are separated and locked up in ICE detention centers in Louisiana, according to immigration advocates.
Lawyer Taylor Levy, who is leading a lawsuit against the US government over its immigration policy, told that she had received several reports of Ukrainian men, women and even adult teenagers being held in detention facilities and said they would languish there until the deportation hearing.
Such an appeal appears to be a far cry from President Joe Biden’s promise to welcome Ukrainian refugees “with open arms” after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded their homeland.
Ukrainians at the US southern border were turned away by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials using a covid immigration policy created by the Trump administration called Section 42.
Now they appear to have been allowed into the US for asylum after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memo urging employees to exempt Ukrainians from the policy.
has learned that “dozens” of Ukrainian families are reportedly separated and locked up in ICE detention centers in Louisiana after crossing the US-Mexico border. Pictured: A Ukrainian family who fled Kyiv waits with their luggage before they are allowed to cross the U.S. port of entry of San Isidro to seek asylum.
While refugees are allowed into the country amid the ongoing war with Russia, officials have discretion to process migrants in a variety of ways and in some cases keep them in pretrial detention until a trial date.
Immigration lawyer Taylor Levy told she received several reports of Ukrainian refugees being held at an ICE processing center in South Louisiana (pictured) north of Lafayette.
But immigration lawyers say many of these refugees are still in detention as soon as they set foot on US soil, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents even breaking up families, sending them across the country and locking them up in separate detention centers. .
“Some are being released on parole on humanitarian grounds,” Levy said. “But we are getting reports of some being detained and sent to ICE detention centers in Louisiana.
“Once you touch US soil without permission to be on US soil, you will be treated as an immigrant without a valid visa or travel document to enter the country.
“At this point, they can choose different ways to treat you,” she added. “In some cases, instead of letting people into the country, they put them in the ICE detention center until the trial date.
“At some point you may be released on humanitarian grounds, but it could be weeks or months.
“And when they release people, usually they give them a humanitarian parole document, but that also has to do with the upcoming deportation court hearing.”
Levy said she tracked the Ukrainians sent to an ICE processing center in South Louisiana, north of Lafayette, and to Mesa Otay, near California’s southern border.
Earlier this month, DHS officials sent a memo to staff urging them to exempt war refugees from the Trump-era policy, Section 42, which allows border guard agents to deny migrants entry due to coronavirus-related restrictions.
A Ukrainian man and woman arrive at a Ysidro PedEast checkpoint hoping to be granted asylum in the US.
Experts say some asylum seekers are released on parole on humanitarian grounds, but they still have to attend a hearing in their case.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment and did not disclose the number of Ukrainians being held in its detention centers.
A spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center said their lawyers contacted three Ukrainian women sent to the ICE Processing Center in South Louisiana.
According to the non-profit organization Immigration Defenders Law Center, a Russian couple who said they left their home due to “political persecution for supporting a candidate who was targeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin” have now been told they will be sent to an ICE detention center. in Louisiana. (immdef).
Their lawyer, Margaret Cargioli, said they camped for “a few days” outside the San Ysidro port of entry, instead of seeking refuge in the crime-ridden Mexican border town of Tijuana, and were then apprehended when they crossed the pedestrian border.
Cargioli said she had few opportunities to talk to her clients, but their California sponsor told her that they would be transferred to “the ICE prison in Louisiana.”
“In addition to our clients, ImmDef has received confirmation from multiple sources that potentially dozens of Russian and Ukrainian citizens and families of adults could be transferred to ICE custody in Louisiana,” the organization said in a statement.
“The essence of the asylum law is to protect people, such as those who are persecuted and tortured by the Putin administration on the basis of their fundamental political beliefs,” Cargioli said. “ICE prison is not a place for asylum seekers.”
The Biden administration announced that the US would take in up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine following the President’s meeting with NATO, G7 and European Union leaders on Thursday.
Levy said border guards’ decisions about who to detain remain mysterious.
“We just don’t know how they make that choice. Little old women, they are less likely to get into custody than healthy men. But not all single adults are sent to custody,” the lawyer said.
In one worrying case, an 18-year-old Ukrainian girl traveling with her aunt and uncle was allegedly told she would be separated from them and sent to a mixed detention center in Louisiana.
Another alleged case involves a Ukrainian couple who entered the U.S. via a crosswalk in San Ysidro, California and were detained and sent to Louisiana, but to separate detention facilities.
“Ukrainians themselves don’t want to talk, they are scared,” Levy said. “Speech can lead to retribution.”
The immigration attorney added that the DHS decision to exempt Ukrainians from Section 42 does not help their asylum cases and that in fact it is likely that the refugees will end up being deported.
“Just because you don’t have title 42 doesn’t mean you’re legal, happy, and free in the United States,” she said.
A scene at the San Ysidro vehicular crossing near San Diego, one of the busiest ports of entry on the Mexican border.
Refugees poured into Europe, and some even made their way to the southern border of the United States, trying to get into the country this way.
“They will still have to go to court and hold asylum hearings and they will probably lose.
“Ukrainians don’t usually have strong asylum cases,” she said. “Most Ukrainians are not focused on what happened to them.
“Even if their apartment complex was bombed, none of it had anything to do with the fact that they were targeted specifically as individuals. So it’s not necessarily an asylum case.
“There are a lot of Ukrainians, they left for incredibly good reasons: a war broke out in their country. But that’s not what our law in this country protects.
Levy said any Russian dissidents who pass will be more likely to receive asylum.
“In my opinion, asylum cases in Russia are usually much more serious because many of them were arrested for protests in Russia,” she told .
“Right now, Putin has made it so that even if you call it a war in your private messages, you can go to jail for it.”
This week, the White House promised to grant legal status in the US to 100,000 Ukrainians, although that didn’t seem to make a difference for those already being held in ICE detention centers.
A senior administration official told CNN they are considering offering the refugees a U.S. refugee admission program, parole, or immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
However, the official said Biden would not ask Congress to increase the current annual refugee limit of 125,000 for 2022, calling the pledge a “long-term commitment.”
“We still have a significant capacity within 125,000 people, so we don’t see the need to go beyond it at this time,” the official said.
According to representatives of the immigration service, regardless of court decisions on asylum cases, Ukrainians and Russians will not be deported to their homeland.