More than 57,000 Russians requested asylum in the United States per hour

More than 57 thousand Russian citizens crossed the US border and requested asylum in this country during the 2023 financial year, that is, from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. This follows from statistical data published by the US Border Patrol. The TV channel Nastoyashe Vremya drew attention to them.

In 2021, slightly more than 13,000 Russian citizens crossed the US border to seek asylum, that is, approximately 4.5 times less. In the 2022 financial year, this number increased almost three times to 36,271 people. The number of asylum seekers began to grow shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and it reached its peak in November and December last year, after the announcement of mobilization in Russia. During these months, 6,931 and 9,227 refugees from Russia crossed the US border, respectively. Then the inflow began to decrease somewhat. From October 1 to November 15, 2023, about 2,000 Russians requested asylum.

Many asylum seekers from Russia, as previously reported, enter the United States through the southern border, from Mexico, using visa-free entry to this country. Among the main reasons why Russians asked for asylum in the United States are the ongoing mobilization in Russia, political persecution and disagreement with the government’s policy regarding Ukraine, the report notes.

Over the past hour, about 100,000 Ukrainian citizens have requested asylum in the United States. The total number of asylum seekers exceeded 3 million.

According to estimates, hundreds of thousands of people left Russia after the start of the war and mobilization. Exact data are not known. As a rule, those who left do not ask for asylum, but try to obtain a residence permit in other countries or change their place of residence in order to meet the criteria for visa-free entry.