Antiwar Activists Who Flee Russia Find Detention, Not Freedom, in the U.S.
As Vladimir Putin cracks down on dissidents and arrests draft dodgers, growing numbers of Russians are making their way across the U.S. southern border. But contrary to their expectations of asylum and freedom, many of them are being put into immigration detention centers that resemble prisons.
Even before Russia’s assault on Ukraine, anti-government activists had been pouring out of the country and seeking refuge in the United States. The exodus intensified after the war began in late February, reaching the highest tallies in recent history. In the 2022 fiscal year, 21,763 Russians were processed by U.S. authorities at the southern border, compared with 467 in 2020. In October alone, 3,879 came.
As Vladimir Putin cracks down on dissidents and arrests draft dodgers, growing numbers of Russians are making their way across the U.S. southern border. But contrary to their expectations of asylum and freedom, many of them are being put into immigration detention centers that resemble prisons. ...
Even before Russia’s assault on Ukraine, anti-government activists had been pouring out of the country and seeking refuge in the United States. The exodus intensified after the war began in late February, reaching the highest tallies in recent history. In the 2022 fiscal year, 21,763 Russians were processed by U.S. authorities at the southern border, compared with 467 in 2020. In October alone, 3,879 came. ...
Human rights groups have for years documented the prolonged confinement, medical negligence and mistreatment of immigrant detainees ...
Russian asylum-seekers interviewed said they have been at the mercy of guards who treat them with indifference and, not infrequently, hostility. ...
“I came to realize that I had left Russia for a place that was just like Russia,” he [Mr Shevchuk, asylum-seeker] said.
Why do the Russians cross at the southern border? Can't they get a flight or ship straight to one of the coasts? Maybe they are treated like Latin Americans only at the southern border, i.e. only there can they be sure to get in.
ReplyDelete