Russians gather at the border between Mexico and the United States

A young Russian mother and her son near the San Ysidro port of entry leading to the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, March 17, 2022. AP - Gregory Bull

Text by: Gwendolina Duval

3 mins

The war in Ukraine is shaking Europe and causing millions to be displaced.

Since the start of the conflict, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has counted more than 3.5 million Ukrainians who have fled their country.

Russians are also leaving their homes in large numbers, fleeing the regime of Vladimir Putin.

Some, moreover, do not stay in Europe and go very far.

They are several thousand to have reached Mexico and the northern border with the United States.

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They arrive as tourists by plane.

Several flights make it possible to reach Mexico City or Cancún from Russia via Turkey or the Arabian Peninsula.

They do not need a visa to enter Mexico and can stay for six months.

From there, the American border, in particular in Tijuana, is easily accessible.

It's hard to know exactly how many Russians are in the country, let alone how many intend to try to go to the United States.

At the border, observers saw the first Russians arrive last summer and the phenomenon has increased sharply.

In 6 months, between August 2021 and January 2022, more than 8,600 people of Russian nationality applied for asylum in the United States.

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Looking for protection

So why are the Russians going all the way to the US border at Tijuana?

Mexico is still very far from Russia and Europe.

The Russians who arrived in Mexico fled their country.

They are opponents of Putin's policies, journalists or business leaders.

They want to be able to ask for protection.

And like all other migrants passing through Tijuana, they hope to cross over to the American side to apply for asylum.

Unlike other nationalities on the border, Russians are generally from higher social classes, so they have more means.

They do not frequent shelters, but reside in hotels.

Some even buy or rent cars in Mexico to have a better chance of crossing and touching American soil.

Except that it's not so easy for them to move to the United States.

Even if in recent days, we have seen Ukrainian families having special authorizations to cross to the American side, the Russians remain blocked at the border, even before crossing to the other side.

And when they are arrested by the American authorities, they are sent back to Mexico.

The rule is the same for all migrants, whatever their nationality.

This comes from "Title 42", still in force, it is a health measure introduced by Donald Trump two years ago.

It prohibits all migrants from entering the United States to file an asylum claim.

Only Ukrainians have been exempted from this rule for a few days for humanitarian reasons because of the conflict.

But this is the only exception and for all the others there is no legal route.

And finally, despite the protests of about thirty people last week at the San Ysidro border post, the Russians are treated exactly like the two million migrants, whether Mexicans, Central Americans or Haitians who have been turned back this last year by US authorities.

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