A new scenario is confronting law enforcement agents at our Southern border with Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seen a large increase in Russians and Ukrainians apprehended at the border.
The rise in apprehensions began last winter as tensions between Ukraine and Russia began to intensify. Individuals foreshadowed the war and made attempts to reach the United States. The Foreign Desk reports on recent numbers from CBP “show that just in the last six months, 1,300 Ukrainians met immigration officials at the U.S.-Mexico border, up from less than 700 for all of 2021.”
“Over 7,000 Russians also have arrived, approximately doubling last year’s figure.” The number of Russian or Ukrainian citizens crossing the border makes up only a small percentage of everyone from around the globe making the attempt, but there is one large difference.
Unlike most Central and South American migrants, those from Ukraine and Russia are being allowed to stay in the U.S., “and in many cases, arranging to meet relatives already here.”
The Foreign Desk reports:
A DHS memo released March 11 authorized CBP agents to consider exempting from expulsion asylum-seekers with Ukrainian passports. Exemptions are to be made on a case-by-case basis.
Russians who have fled Russia are not addressed in the memo.
Many Russians have left Russia as the invasion of Ukraine ramped up, fearing political persecution or conscription to go fight in Ukraine.
A common strategy for both Russians and Ukrainians is to enter Mexico as a tourist, without paperwork in order and then apply for asylum status upon entering the U.S. It is easier to get a tourist visa for Mexico than for the U.S.
Fox News reported some Russian asylum-seekers were being turned away at the border, under Title 42 rules , but Ukrainians were ushered into the U.S. The Biden administration also announced this week that the U.S. would accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees “through the full range of legal pathways,”
It remains unclear as to whether or not those crossing at the border will be included in that number.
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