Activists and authorities prepare as Ukrainians and Russians arrive in the U.S. through Mexico

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U.S. and Mexico immigration officials are seeing an increase in the number of Ukrainians and Russians attempting to cross the U.S. border, where they can request asylum.

The number of migrants arriving in Mexico from those two countries accelerated in the months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and many are now waiting for opportunities to enter the United States, mostly in and around Tijuana on Mexico’s west coast.

There have been no reports yet of high numbers of Ukrainians or Russians fleeing the war arriving along the Texas border, and any influx would be relatively minor compared to the thousands of migrants arriving daily from Mexico and Central America.

In 2020, 30,660 migrants from Russia arrived in Mexico; in 2021, the figure was 75,446.

In January 2022 alone, 16,172 Russians entered the country, according to the office of Mexico’s Interior Minister.

While 12,718 Ukrainians arrived in Mexico in 2020, 28,228 arrived in 2021. In January 2022, 6,006 Ukrainians entered the country.

Before the war, many migrants flew out of Russian cities or Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, with connections through Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to Cancún or San José del Cabo in Mexico, paying $700 or more for tickets.

In the days after the outbreak of war, after all civil flights out of Ukraine were suspended and Russia’s Aeroflot ended international service, more began to migrate through Eastern European countries and Germany.

Emelia Velázquez, a Mexico City-based lawyer specializing in migration, said that these migrants usually have credit cards or enough savings to pay for their trip and their stay in Mexico while they plan to travel to the border to petition for asylum.

“It’s usually a more discreet migration; it is very rare for them to be seen in shelters in Mexico because they prefer to stay in hotels or with acquaintances,” Velázquez said. “It’s a migration of well-prepared people. Most of them speak English and are professionals with postgraduate degrees who can afford to travel this far.”

In Mexico, which does not require a visa for citizens of Ukraine and Russia, they can register to legally remain in the country for 180 days. Many then regroup and venture to the U.S. border.

Some of the Ukrainian and Russian migrants buy cars to travel through Mexico to U.S. ports of entry where they can ask for asylum. Others get to the ports on foot.

Some Ukrainians have set up camp in Tijuana hoping they’ll be allowed to enter the U.S., according to reports by the independent news portal RadarBC.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its agents had 13,240 “encounters” with people from Russia in 2021. So far in fiscal year 2022 (October-February, the most recent figure available), there were 13,808 encounters.

During 2021, CBP officers had 9,378 encounters with Ukrainians. So far in fiscal 2022, there have been 5,534.

In California, there have been documented cases of people from Ukraine who have had Title 42 applied to them, being immediately expelled from the country because of the pandemic-related health order.

In Arizona, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot said that his office has seen a “significant” increase of Russians and some Ukrainians since last fall, especially during December. Five months into the fiscal year, the total number of “apprehensions is over 120,000, a record for Yuma,” Wilmot said.

The migrants come from 140 different countries, including Russia and some from Ukraine, he said.

Three weeks ago, Wilmot said, “we detained a group of Russians, Georgians, Uzbeks, and some Ukrainians,” though the number pales in comparison to Venezuelans, Cubans, Brazilians, and others from South American countries.

But the Russians surprised Wilmot, who said: “I had never seen Russians. This is new.” However, he doesn’t know if the influx will continue.

“I don’t know if they are going to be able to leave now because of the war,” Wilmot said.

So far in fiscal 2022, U.S. immigration authorities documented 2,365 Russians and 956 Ukrainians arriving at the Texas-Mexico border. Of these, only 103 Russians were apprehended by Border Patrol; all others had encounters with CBP agents.

According to CBP, few, if any, Russians or Ukrainians have crossed through West Texas. But authorities and activists in the U.S. are preparing for possible arrivals of more migrants fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Verónica Frescas, director of outreach and community liaison at El Calvario Methodist Church, which assists migrants in El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico, said they are ready.

“How we’re preparing is very similar to how we prepared for our newly arrived Afghan migrants. Our community will have to collaborate and be ready to provide emergency needs like shelter, food, clothing and donations,” Frescas said.

A few migrants have arrived in Del Rio, according to Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez.

“We’ve only seen a couple of Russians,” he said, adding that the overall number of migrants from other countries, specifically from Venezuela and Nicaragua, is increasing. He acknowledged that they could see more Russians and Ukrainians in the future.

Frescas said the U.S. government must provide lasting solutions for those displaced by the war.

“Although it hasn’t happened yet, this administration could offer humanitarian parole status to any Ukrainian who arrives after March 1,” Frescas said. “This is what was offered to Afghan refugees and what allowed them to settle here in the U.S.”

Frescas believes more Russians who do not agree with Vladimir Putin’s regime will continue to arrive, but that it won’t be an exodus as massive as that of the Ukrainians.

Wilmot, the Republican sheriff in Arizona, underlined the need for “the Biden administration to get serious about securing the border.”

“Más allá de las aprehensiones, ¿Cuántos nos faltan?” Wilmot said. Beyond the apprehensions, how many are we missing (as they slip across the border)?