SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Many Russian nationals continue to arrive in the United States after fleeing their country for various reasons including the ongoing war with Ukraine.
Most are securing CBP One appointments to get access into the U.S. at ports of entry such as San Ysidro’s PedWest.
According to attorney Curtis Morrison, who represents hundreds of Russian asylum seekers, the Biden Administration has been denying Russians an opportunity to seek asylum while detaining and deporting them.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made a decision to blanket detain all migrants who are Russian asylum seekers.”
Morrison says this violates a policy called the 2009 Parole Directive.
“They are being subjected to a blanket policy that they are applying to Russian asylum seekers even if there’s nothing Russian about them, they may not even be from Russia, but from a country next to Russia or maybe even speak Russian.”
Morrison added that his clients, and many other Russian nationals, are victims of discrimination.
“It’s not what the law is, this is a blanket policy they are applying to people based on their country of origin despite following proper procedures for entering the United States, seeking asylum, and not posing a flight and public safety, or national security risk.”
According to Morrison, most of the Russians are ending up at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego or a similar facility in Louisiana.
“You can go to the Border in Tijuana and see who is coming across, you can see they are not all Russians, but when you go to detention facilities, especially in Louisiana, you see the majority of detainees are Russian.”
Morrison says that number is in excess of 50 percent.
“They’re not coming here to cause the U.S. harm, this policy doesn’t make sense and it’s unlawful.”
Since many Russian asylum seekers have left their country as a way to avoid the war with Ukraine, being sent back would be perilous, according to Morrison.
“They don’t like what Putin is doing and here they show up at our border because they’re trying to escape the same thing we say is wrong so why are we detaining them?”
Morrison expects to be in court early next month for a hearing that will have huge implications for his clients and other migrants who may not be Russian.
“The Biden administration is removing them very quickly back to Russia, they do not want to be forced to participate in an invasion of Ukraine,” he said. “If we lose this, the Trump administration will have new tools at their disposal to mistreat migrants based on their nationality.”