On March 11, as the number of Ukrainians arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border began to tick up, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a special memo advising border officials that they could, on a case-by-case basis, offer that particular group special treatment. Unlike tens of thousands of other migrants, fleeing violence in other countries, border guards could exempt Ukrainians from the public health order, Title 42.
The exemption, which was first reported by CBS News, was cheered by immigrant advocates and lawmakers. But many also pointed to a double standard: Ukrainians fleeing the well-documented horrors of an unprovoked war have been granted access to the U.S. relatively quickly, while people from other nations—many of whom are also fleeing sickening violence—have not seen anywhere near the same mercy. Since the Trump Administration invoked Title 42 in March 2020, border guards have used the measure to conduct nearly two million immediate expulsions, including of women and children; under the order, migrants are not able to asylum, an international right, before they are sent back across the border.
For some experts who study the U.S.’s immigration and refugee history, the March memo exempting Ukrainians from Title 42 came as no surprise. It’s consistent, they say, with the a broader pattern of American sympathy for predominately white migrants from predominately Christian countries fleeing violence that is not typically extended to people who aren’t white or non-Christian.
“This heightened sense of responsibility, while commendable, is noticeably different than what Americans usually do when there is a conflict where you have millions of refugees,” says Sahar Aziz, professor of law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University, whose research focuses on the intersection of race and national security policy.
Consider how Americans responded when millions of Syrians fled the Bashar al-Assad regime, regional militias, and ISIS, Aziz says. “While there were pockets of Americans who cared deeply about the Syrian refugee crisis…the majority [of the public sentiment] was ‘that’s too bad, but that’s not our problem,’” she says. “They didn’t see the Syrian as an extension of their identity.”
— To read the full article in TIME Magazine by Jasmine Aguilere, click here.
