Russian, Chinese Migrants Showing Up at US-Mexico Border After South Americans Banned; More Russian Migrants Enter U.S. as Exceptions for Asylum Seekers Expand

NY POST: Russian, Chinese migrants showing up at US-Mexico border after South Americans banned:

Hundreds of migrants fleeing Russia, China, Georgia and Peru are now showing up at the US-Mexico border and seeking asylum — replacing migrants from Central and South America who have been blocked from entering the country.

“There are a lot of people from Russia, a lot of Georgians, and Chinese,” Fernando Quiroz, Director of AZ-CA Humanitarian Coalition told The Post of what he’s seen in recent weeks.

More than 80,000 migrants have crossed into the US through Yuma in the first four months of the current fiscal year, which began in October — making it the third busiest immigration hot spot in the country after El Paso and Del Rio in Texas.

Mexican immigration statistics showed the numbers of Russians heading to the country more than doubled as war with Ukraine broke out last year. The Wall Street Journal cited official statistics showing 30,000 Russians entering Mexico in February of that year, up from a steady stream of around 12,000 a month over previous years.

A Georgian citizen and a Russian citizen lined up at the border wall in Arizona told The Post they left their homelands due to the war and economic sanctions.

“We went through Mexico because we don’t have visas for the US,” they said through a translator. “We got visas to Mexico. We flew into Mexico City and made our way to the border.”

A report published last year found this was a popular route for those with the money to achieve it and 21,626 Russians were allowed into the country to seek asylum in the 2022 fiscal year.

Many Peruvians citied political turmoil and historic inflation for abandoning their country while Chinese citizens have long been known to abandon their country to seek a better life in the West and escape the harsh realities of the communist regime.

While the feds couldn’t tell The Post exactly how many Russians, Chinese or Peruvians were stopped at the international boundary, as federal statistics do keep statistics for all countries, their figures show a 124% increase in migrants from countries not in Central or South America entering through Yuma compared to last year. —>READ MORE HERE

wsj: More Russian Migrants Enter U.S. as Exceptions for Asylum Seekers Expand:

Number of Russians entering at U.S. ports of entry from Mexico more than doubles in recent months

More Russian migrants are traveling through Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S., driven in part by an expanding U.S. government effort to allow more asylum seekers to cross the border legally.

About 12,500 Russians entered the U.S. through ports of entry with Mexico between October, the start of the government’s budget year, and December. Most are expected to ask for asylum once they settle in the U.S., often citing government crackdowns since the start of the war in Ukraine and the mobilization announced in September to draft more troops.

About 5,000 Russians crossed through U.S. ports of entry during the same period a year ago.

Though the Biden administration hasn’t changed policies about dealing with Russian migrants, the government has expanded its use of preset appointments for migrants from any country to walk to a port of entry and request exemption from a public-health law known as Title 42, which has generally barred asylum seekers from legal border crossings since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many Russians have taken notice and advantage, according to attorneys and advocates.

“Russians are extremely savvy in terms of figuring out the ways to manage the system,” said Tatyana Edwards-Behar, a San Diego-based immigration lawyer who herself emigrated from Russia decades ago. “They have access to information. And they actively disseminate information.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in September that the administration welcomed Russian asylum seekers and that their requests would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Since October, the Biden administration has processed about 84,000 people through legal border crossings, most under exemptions to Title 42. During the same period a year ago, the agency allowed about 22,000 people through the ports, including nearly 5,000 Russians.

Separately, Border Patrol agents have arrested about 4,700 Russian migrants who have crossed the border illegally since October. During the same period a year ago, agents reported 415 such arrests. —>read more here —>READ MORE HERE

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