Last week I took my first business trip outside of the U.S. since the pandemic began, to Mexico City, for the wonderful Mexican Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference, produced by HVS.
And I want to paint a little picture for you of what the customs line looked like for non-Mexicans entering the country: It was long and it moved slowly. Kids tussled with their siblings. They swung their winter coats around, begged their moms for their phones to play games and hung on to their strollers, refusing to sit inside.
The moms patiently held on to the kids, breaking up arguments. They sorted passports and paperwork for everyone, maneuvered all the luggage and strollers and duffel bags.
Sounds pretty familiar, right?
Only this line was all Ukrainian refugees.
I looked in awe at these families — they were for the most part groups of two or more adult women with a batch of children between them — and thought about how much they had been through. I mean, by the time I hit the customs line, I’m complaining so much to myself already because my phone’s at zero battery and I haven’t seen a bathroom yet. And here these women were holding their families together and simply getting it done.
These families in many cases had to leave the men — fathers, uncles, brothers — behind. And that day, the families I saw were mostly young. Had they needed to leave elderly parents behind, too?
The primary emotion I felt as I watched these families move through the line, though, was awe at their resilience, and it reminded me that every refugee, every immigrant, every person leaving their home to go somewhere where life may be a little safer or better for now, whatever the circumstance, is resilient.
These mothers and aunties were getting it done. They had been through so much travel and change and upheaval, and they had their passports and paperwork ready to go, their translation apps ready and they got it done.
Every Mexican border control agent was helpful and patient; every other person in that customs line was helpful and patient.
Contrast that to the scenario people encounter when they hit the U.S. entry point — TSA agents screaming at people to step up, move faster, follow directions and take off their shoes.
Right now, many Ukrainians leaving their country are making their way to Mexico in hopes of entering the U.S. via Tijuana.
They join the groups of people from Latin American countries that have been waiting much longer.
Times like these once again put the spotlight on the U.S.'s broken immigration system. Many hoteliers and other business owners have been calling for stepped-up immigration reform in order to try to repair labor shortages.
It’s happening in drips and drabs. The U.S. added additional visas to the H-2B visa program for the second half of this year and is taking some steps to make the process more streamlined.
But of course, like everything else here, political viewpoints get in the way of progress.
At the very least, however, I hope we can all recognize the resilience these people show. To paraphrase from “Hamilton,” immigrants … they get the job done.
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