A Saturday Evening Post

After two months of Ukrainians pouring into the very unstable city of Tijuana, Mexico, the Biden administration rolled out the Uniting for Ukraine plan, streamlining the process of acquiring a visa to enter the U.S. Over 1,000 Ukrainians were going every day to Tijuana, hoping to cross the border and walk the sixteen miles to San Diego. Those who had arrived prior to April twenty-fourth made it across the border the day before the new rules were laid out. The CBP processed over 1,000 people in twenty-four hours.  

Those who did not make it in time were left scrambling in a new country where they did not speak the language. Add to that the fact that Tijuana is the most dangerous city in Mexico. The Mexican government acted fast to transport them to a refugee camp in Mexico City, a journey of two days. Many Ukrainians had traveled out of Ukraine, and into Romania or Poland and flown to varying destinations in Mexico then caught a flight to Tijuana. Refugees spent varying amounts of money; some spent $3,000 to get to Tijuana, only to be turned away at the border. Uniting for Ukraine streamlined the process, but they would now have to go through the same process as they would have done, had they stayed in Europe. 

Ukrainians still trickled into Mexico. Roman (a Ukrainian volunteer who has lived in Oregon for ten years.) says Uniting for Ukraine has put a thumb on the artery, of refugees streaming in but they continue to come. It is down to about ten a day. Olya (a Russian-born volunteer) is trying to tell Ukrainians not to come to Mexico. Olya says it is like a prison with walls all around and guards appointed at every entrance. It is not a great part of Mexico, but Ukrainians are glad to be safe. Olya says there were a few indications of the crime-stricken area the camp is located in. In one instance a Ukrainian family was told to climb into a van, and in another, someone tried to convince some residents of the camp to buy drugs. She cannot be sure, but she does not think they have lost anyone. Olya, with other Russian and Ukrainian volunteers, went first to Tijuana to help Ukrainians get across the border. There were a few instances that, based on her experience, Ukrainians were being picked up by sex traffickers posing as sponsors, though she was clear that was only intuition and there was nothing sure.  

The church I am a part of in Waukesha has decided to sponsor a Ukrainian family. We have only just begun the lengthy process of acquiring all the documentation required, so I do not have much news for you yet. I will have to give you an update at a later time, but I do want to encourage Christians, if you are capable, to sponsor Ukrainians. Many Ukrainian Christians are staying in Ukraine to minister to their own people, but there are many seeking asylum who have never heard the gospel, being raised in the Orthodox version of Christianity. 

I have heard many Christians say they are not interested in helping unless asylum seekers are Christians. But if we look at the situation from God’s perspective, those that have not yet made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives do not have a promise of eternity with him. So many Ukrainians are daily losing their lives at the hands of this Russian evil.  

At this writing, the number that has fled from the war is six million, over twelve percent of the entire population of Ukraine.  In the late 1800s, there was a mass exodus of Ukrainian and Russian Jews trying to get away from the persecution of the Tsars and again under the Bolsheviks. Europe referred to this as the “Jewish question”: what to do with millions of people migrating west. The economies of Europe couldn’t handle the strain and in Germany, it then became known as “The Jewish Problem”. What had been sympathy became widespread suspicion and animosity, eventually leading to the Holocaust. Again, Europe finds itself trying to absorb millions of migrants whom they are currently sympathetic towards. Already, housing and jobs are getting hard to find. The churches’ willingness to help absorb the strain on the infrastructure is vital, and so we in America are a key part of this chain, which will deter Western Europeans from becoming hostile to the destitute from the east.  

Sponsoring is a lot of work and it is messy, there are still a lot of unknowns. I am sure I’ll have some quite different things to say in a few months when we are on the other side. It is going to be uncomfortable, but we hope to save at least one life for eternity. That is why we all do everything we do anyway isn’t it?