About three dozen asylum seekers from Russia were blocked from entering the US on Friday, while a group of Ukrainians flashed passports and were escorted across the border.
The scene reflected a quiet but undeniable shift in the different treatment of Russians and Ukrainians who enter Mexico as tourists and fly to Tijuana, hoping to enter the US for a chance at asylum.
The Russians – 34 since Friday – had camped for several days at the US’s busiest border crossing with Mexico, two days after Tijuana city officials kindly urged them to leave.
They sat on mats and blankets, checking smartphones, chatting and snacking, with sleeping bags and strollers nearby as a stream of pedestrians streamed past them cross-border. Five young girls sat in a circle talking, some with stuffed animals.
Days earlier, some Russians were admitted to the US at the San Ysidro crossing, while some Ukrainians were barred. But on Friday, Russians were refused, while Ukrainians were admitted after short waiting times.
“It’s very difficult to understand how they make decisions,” said Irina Zolinka, a 40-year-old Russian woman who camped overnight with her family of seven after arriving in Tijuana on Thursday.
Erika Pinheiro, process and policy director for advocacy group Al Otro Lado, said the US began allowing all Ukrainians on humanitarian parole for a year around Tuesday, while blocking all Russians at the same time. There was no official announcement.
A memo from the Department of Homeland Security dated March 11, but not released publicly until Thursday, told border officials that Ukrainians may be exempted from sweeping asylum limits designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It says decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis for Ukrainians, but makes no mention of Russians.
“The Department of Homeland Security recognizes that the unwarranted Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has created a humanitarian crisis,” the memo reads.
Homeland Security said in a statement Friday that anyone deemed “particularly vulnerable” could be admitted for humanitarian reasons after an individual assessment, regardless of nationality.
Russian migrants in Tijuana sat next to a line of hundreds of border residents on Friday, waiting to cross the border into San Diego. The line was unobstructed.
A 32-year-old Russian migrant who had not left the border crossing since arriving in Tijuana with his wife about five days earlier, had no plans to leave, fearing he would miss a sudden opportunity.
Within hours of arriving, the migrant, who identified himself as Mark only because he feared for his family’s safety in Russia, saw three Russian migrants being admitted to the United States. After six hours, US authorities returned his passport and said only Ukrainians were allowed in.
“Ukrainians and Russians are suffering because of one man,” Mark said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He fled shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
US officials have expelled more than 1.7 million migrants from the country since March 2020 without a chance to gain asylum under sweeping authority to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But the public health agency, known as Title 42, is rarely used for migrants of certain nationalities who are difficult to deport for financial or diplomatic reasons.
But to apply for asylum, migrants must be on US soil, and US officials are blocking the passage except for those who want to admit it.
Even before the Russian invasion, the United States saw an increase in Russian and Ukrainian asylum seekers, most of whom attempted to enter through official border crossings in San Diego rather than attempting to cross illegally in deserts and mountains.
More than 1,500 Ukrainians entered the US through the Mexican border from September to February, according to the US Customs and Border Protection, about 35 times the 45 Ukrainians who crossed the border in the same period a year earlier.
Ukrainians who can reach American soil are almost guaranteed a chance at asylum. Only four of the 1,553 who arrived in the September-February period were excluded from the public health order allowing the US to expel migrants without a chance of humanitarian protection.
The number of Russian asylum seekers entering through US land crossings from September to February exceeded 8,600, about 30 times the 288 at the same time a year earlier. All but 23 were treated under laws allowing them to apply for asylum.
Mexican officials are wary of migrants sleeping at the border. Last month, they dismantled a large migrant camp in Tijuana with tents and tarps blocking a walkway to San Diego.
The city, eager to prevent another camp from developing, issued a letter on Wednesday asking migrants to leave their campsites for health and safety reasons and offering free lodging if they could not afford a hotel.
