DHS will ‘address an individual’s claim’ after Ukrainian refugees reportedly turned away at border

Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum in the US will not be turned away, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declared this week after reports emerged that border officials were using the Title 42 public health authority to refuse entry to Eastern European refugees along the southern border. 

Mayorkas told reporters Thursday that his department has issued guidance reminding authorities that Ukrainian nationals “and everyone else” making so-called “credible fear” claims at the US-Mexico frontier are exempt from Title 42, which allows officials to expedite migrant expulsions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We address an individual’s claim for humanitarian relief as they are presented to us,” Mayorkas said. “We have a number of efforts already underway … to provide humanitarian relief for individuals fleeing a war-torn Ukraine. We are looking at other programs that we can implement to expand the avenues of humanitarian relief.”