A group of Russians who left the Russian Federation after their country invaded Ukraine were secretly allowed to cross the US southern border into Mexico, despite tens of thousands of other asylum seekers being turned away.
According to Vice, an agreement was reached between Mexican and US authorities for the group of about three dozen people to be escorted across the border under cover of darkness.
35 people with Russian citizenship are believed to have been briefly held in a detention center on the American side for a few days before being allowed into the country to live freely while awaiting their immigration hearings, likely in a few months.
Russian asylum seekers Nastya (C), Artem and their son Samuil sit outside the San Ysidro port of entry after being barred from entering the United States to seek asylum on March 21
US authorities recently allowed Ukrainian refugees to enter the US at the southern border with permission to stay in the US for a year on humanitarian grounds
Russian asylum seekers Nastya, Artem and their son Samuil sit in a stroller outside the San Ysidro port of entry after being denied entry
The group was allowed to cross a stretch of the border where they were unlikely to be seen in the early hours of March 20, when Mexican immigration offers handed the Russian group over directly to US Customs and Border Protection officials.
The deal is believed to have come about with the help of US Consulate officials in Tijuana and Mexican officials at various levels of government after a camp of displaced Russians suddenly began to swell on the streets around the busy Tijuana/San Diego border crossing.
The apparent special treatment sidestepped Title 42 laws enacted during the coronavirus pandemic, which essentially allowed officials at the US border to reject asylum requests without hearing cases.
The blanket denial policies that began under the Trump administration and continued under President Biden have left tens of thousands of migrants stranded in Mexico without knowing when they might be able to enter the United States and receive a fair hearing.
A Russian and a Ukrainian hug as Russians wait for a humanitarian visa at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico
A woman of Russian descent, staying in a makeshift camp next to the San Ysidro Garita, weeps while listening to prayers
Mexican officials arranged a deal with US authorities to allow them to cross
There have been suggestions that Title 42 rules could be dropped in early April, which would likely result in a sudden spate of applications, not only from immigrants from Central America and Mexico, but also from Ukrainians who have made the journey to live in to seek refuge in the United States United States.
That’s something the Russians who crossed over earlier this month don’t have to worry about now that they’ve been given preferential treatment.
The group had spent a horrific week sleeping in a makeshift camp on the streets of Tijuana, including a pregnant woman in full view of a passageway reserved for people who regularly cross the Mexico-San Diego border every day crossed on foot.
“It’s like Russian roulette,” Irina, a math teacher from Moscow, told Vice World News. “It’s totally unpredictable. You don’t know the steps on the way. You approach the border without knowing what will happen. You reach the border but don’t know if immigration will let you through. Then if you cross the border you will be detained, but you don’t know for how long or why.’
Irina Zolkina, who is seeking asylum in the United States, weeps as she recalls her journey from Russia to the Mexican border as she stood near the San Ysidro port of entry into the United States
A Russian man talks to a Customs and Border Protection officer while waiting with others near the San Ysidro port of entry to the United States in Tijuana, Mexico
In early March, about a dozen Ukrainians came to Tijuana to enter the United States but were denied pending Title 42 policy.
CBP officials have been reminded that they are free to admit asylum seekers into the country on a case-by-case basis, particularly on humanitarian grounds.
Then more Ukrainians were allowed in, although the same rules were not applied to Russians, even when they claimed to be politically persecuted in their homeland for opposing the war.
It is this discrepancy that allowed nearly 40 Russians to set up camp at the San Ysidro port of entry.
Every time the Russians tried to cross the border with the US, they were turned away, while Ukrainians were allowed to cross more easily and received humanitarian visas.
As the numbers grew, so did the frustration on the part of Mexican authorities as the camp set up.
Eventually it was agreed that the Russians would be allowed to cross the border as long as the camp was cleared.
Russian nationals seeking asylum in the US sleep in a makeshift camp on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro Crossing port in Tijuana
Russians were constantly turned away at the border, so a camp was set up in Tijuana
A Russian woman hugs her son as they wait in Tijuana, Mexico, near the San Ysidro port of entry bound for the United States earlier this month
Both sides settled on the deal that saw the Russians smashed through a border checkpoint called El Chaparral.
The border crossing was closed to migrants arriving in the United States and was only used to process deportations back to Mexico.
The Russians were granted special permission to enter the United States, with even those who had been staying at nearby Tijuana hotels allowed to cross along with the rest of the group.
Families who have entered San Diego have been asked to appear before immigration judges in the coming months, while those who crossed the border alone have been taken to immigration detention centers where they are being held for the time being.
The State Department has not commented on the negotiated special deal, only noting that the “US and Mexico are working closely together on a variety of issues, including migration,” and that the countries’ close relationship allows for “dialogue to address challenges that… affect both”. our countries.’
Last week, the United States announced it would take in up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration said Thursday.
US authorities recently allowed Ukrainian refugees to enter the US at the southern border with permission to remain in the US but Russian nationals
Russian asylum seeker Nastya sits outside the San Ysidro port of entry after being denied entry to the United States with family members
It aims to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Eastern Europe, where nearly 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled their bombed country in one of the biggest refugee crises since World War II.
Refugees have poured into Europe and some have even made it as far as the southern border of the United States, attempting to enter the country that way.
In addition to welcoming more displaced people, the Biden administration announced more than $1 billion in new funding for humanitarian assistance.
The funding will provide food, shelter, clean water, medical care and other forms of assistance, according to the White House.