On Friday, about three dozen would-be asylum seekers from Russia were blocked from entering the US, while a group of Ukrainians showed their passports and were escorted across the border.
The scene reflected a quiet but unmistakable shift in attitudes towards Russians and Ukrainians who enter Mexico as tourists and fly to Tijuana in hopes of making it to the US for a chance at asylum.
The Russians – 34 as of Friday – camped for days at the busiest U.S.-Mexico border crossing, two days after Tijuana city officials gently urged them to leave.
They sat on rugs and blankets, checking their smartphones, chatting and snacking, next to sleeping bags and strollers, as a stream of border crossing pedestrians passed by. Five young girls sat and talked in a circle, some with soft toys.
Days earlier, some Russians were allowed into the US at the San Isidro crossing, and some Ukrainians were blocked. But by Friday, the Russians were refused, and the Ukrainians were admitted after a short wait.
“It is very difficult to understand how they make decisions,” said Irina Zolinka, a 40-year-old Russian woman who, after arriving in Tijuana on Thursday, stayed overnight with her family of seven.
Erika Pinheiro, director of litigation and policy for human rights group Al Otro Lado, said around Tuesday the US began accepting all Ukrainians on humanitarian parole for one year, while locking down all Russians. There was no official announcement.
A March 11 Department of Homeland Security memo, which was not made public until Thursday, advised Ukrainians that Ukrainians could be exempt from broad asylum restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It states that decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis for Ukrainians, but makes no mention of Russians.
“The Department of Homeland Security acknowledges that Russia’s unjustified war of aggression in Ukraine has led to a humanitarian crisis,” the memorandum says.
Homeland Security said in a Friday statement that anyone deemed “particularly vulnerable” could be admitted on humanitarian grounds on an individual basis, regardless of nationality.
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Russian migrants in Tijuana sat on the sidelines of hundreds of border residents waiting to cross the border in San Diego on Friday. The line was unobstructed.
The 32-year-old Russian migrant, who had not left the border post since arriving in Tijuana with his wife about five days earlier, had no intention of leaving, fearing he might miss any sudden opportunity.
Hours after arriving, the migrant, who introduced himself only as Mark because he feared for the safety of his family in Russia, saw three Russian migrants admitted to the United States. Six hours later, US authorities returned his passport and told him they were only accepting Ukrainians.
“Ukrainians and Russians are suffering because of one person,” Mark said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He fled shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. officials have expelled migrants more than 1.7 million times since March 2020 without access to asylum as part of broad powers aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. But the public health authority known as Section 42 is rarely used for migrants of certain nationalities who are difficult to expel for financial or diplomatic reasons.
But to be granted asylum, migrants must be on US soil, and US officials block the passage except for those they want to let in.
Even before the Russian invasion, the United States saw a rise in the number of asylum seekers from Russia and Ukraine, most of whom tried to enter through official checkpoints in San Diego rather than trying to cross the border illegally in the deserts and mountains.
More than 1,500 Ukrainians entered the US across the border with Mexico between September and February, according to the US Customs and Border Protection Service, about 35 times more than the 45 Ukrainians who crossed the border in the same period a year earlier.
Ukrainians who can get to US territory are actually guaranteed a chance to get asylum. Only four of the 1,553 people who entered the country between September and February were banned under a public health ruling that allows the US to remove migrants without a chance of humanitarian protection.
From September to February, the number of Russian asylum seekers entering U.S. ground checkpoints from Mexico topped 8,600, about 30 times more than 288 in the same period a year earlier. All but 23 have been processed under laws that allow them to seek asylum.
Mexican authorities are wary of migrants sleeping at the border. Last month, they dismantled a large migrant camp in Tijuana with tents and tarps blocking the passage to San Diego.
In an effort to prevent the formation of another camp, city officials on Wednesday circulated a letter asking migrants to leave their camps for health and safety reasons and offering free shelter if they cannot afford a hotel.