Russian Military Age Men Waiting to Enter U.S. at Southern Border

Russian “military-age men” are seeking asylum in the United States after fleeing President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order, according to a report from The New York Post.

In September, Putin called up 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine, causing hundreds of thousands of men to leave the country. While some went to European countries, others traveled to Mexico and attempted to enter the United States.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recorded over 31,600 Russians crossing the southern border to request political asylum since the start of the war in Ukraine in February.

In November, the CBP encountered over 5,500 Russian migrants.

This is a significant increase compared to the 4,100 encounters with Russian asylum seekers recorded for the entire fiscal year 2021.

NewsNation reporters recently met a Russian migrant named Igor at a border crossing in Arizona. Igor expressed his gratitude to President Joe Biden for the opportunity to seek political asylum in the US. “Thank you Joseph Biden for this great opportunity. God bless you. God bless USA,” Igor said in broken English.

Another Russian migrant, identified as Jasur from the Khabarovsk region, also said he was seeking political asylum due to the “bad situation” in Russia, including the war and political and religious issues. Jasur stayed in Tijuana, Mexico for about a week before heading to the US border via Uber.

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement this week emphasizing that the border is “not open,” despite what smugglers may tell migrants.

The policy known as Title 42, enacted under former President Donald Trump in March 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, has allowed immigration officials to turn away millions of asylum seekers, mainly from South and Central America, at the border.

A judge ordered that the asylum limits be lifted on December 21 in November. However, this week, the US Supreme Court ruled to extend Title 42 through at least February while it hears a legal challenge brought by 19 Republican-led states.

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