As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, thousands of citizens of both countries left Eastern Europe for Mexico with the ultimate goal of claiming asylum in the US, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal, citing Mexican immigration officials, reported that more than 30,000 Russians arrived in the country in the first two months of this year — nearly 2.5 times the full-year average between 2017 and 2021.
Over the same period, the outlet reports, more than 10,000 Ukrainians visited Mexico as tourists compared to a full-year average of just over 4,000.
While the new arrivals say they’re in Mexico for sightseeing, officials tell the Journal that the majority likely intend for the US to be their final destination.
Ukrainians do not need a visa to directly fly to Mexico, making it a common stopover point while traveling to the US. Upon arrival at the southern border, refugees are then able to apply for asylum or be granted humanitarian parole.
More than 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since the Russian invasion began Feb. 24, with most heading west to the neighboring countries of Poland and Romania.
The US announced this week that it is planning to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, with those who already have family in America receiving first priority for resettlement.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security moved to make it easier for Ukrainians to cross into the US from Mexico after several reports emerged that border officials were using the Title 42 health protocol to turn some asylum-seekers away.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued guidance reminding authorities that Ukrainian nationals “and everyone else” making so-called “credible fear” claims at the US-Mexico frontier are exempt from Title 42, which allows officials to expedite migrant expulsions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We address an individual’s claim for humanitarian relief as they are presented to us,” Mayorkas said at the time. “We have a number of efforts already underway … to provide humanitarian relief for individuals fleeing a war-torn Ukraine. We are looking at other programs that we can implement to expand the avenues of humanitarian relief.”
Mayorkas made the announcement after complaints that Ukrainian migrants were being dealt with haphazardly at the border, being turned away at one checkpoint before being allowed in at another.
“It looks like there is no policy of the border because the CBP [Customs and Border Protection] officers are making their own rules,” San Diego-based immigration lawyer Jacob Sapochnick told The Post last week. “They make decisions that decide who was going to enter or who was not. And we have no idea how they determined that.”
Meanwhile, the Journal reported Friday that more Russian migrants have been turned back at the border in recent days and been told to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed.
Since Oct. 1, approximately 1,300 Ukrainians have been taken into custody by immigration officials along the southern border, along with 7,100 Russian migrants, according to the outlet. Both figures are approximately double the number from the entirety of fiscal year 2021.
Most migrants in that total were released into the US and given a court date to appear and have their asylum claim heard.