Alma Ruth, founder, and director of Practice Mercy Foundation said that an estimated 5,000 Russians is waiting south of the Mexican border for their chance to cross over into the United States and claim asylum. Ruth said that in the Mexican town of Reynosa, for example, about 300 Russians are waiting to cross the Rio Grande River into South Texas.

“It has slowly grown the amount of Russians that are coming to Mexico to request asylum due to the situation in the region,” Ruth said Wednesday at the foot of the McAllen-Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.

Most Russians who come to Mexico are fairly wealthy, she said. They fly into northern border towns and can rent apartments or Airbnb until they can cross the border. They need help with language and navigating cultural issues, including operating the CBP One app that U.S. Customs and Border Protection now requires them to use to schedule an asylum interview appointment at a port of entry.

They find other Russian families south of the border by using WhatsApp and they help each other navigate the border cities. They help each other find grocery stores and churches. Not all of them speak English so communication is limited with Ruth and Practice Mercy Foundation. Russians communicate with each other, though. They form WhatsApp groups to keep each other informed.

Practice Mercy Foundation ministers to the families. They read the Bible and talk and pray with them. The foundation, a nonprofit, gives out toiletries and other essentials. Many are fleeing Russia to escape the military draft Putin instigated. Ruth noted that information is spreading among Russians that they may be able to cross into the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas from Reynosa and Matamoros.

For the past two years, Ukrainians have crossed the border from farther west in Mexico, from Tijuana into San Diego.

“They have heard that the Ukrainians were able to cross on the Tijuana on the San Diego border. So Russians are choosing the Matamoros, Brownsville the Reynosa/McAllen area to cross with the hopes to avoid the military draft that their country is facing right now,” Ruth said.

In January, Ruth and her nonprofit organization helped a Russian family that legally crossed from Reynosa after waiting in the border city for over 40 days. The family ended up staying with a McAllen church for a couple of weeks before heading to Austin.

Mikhail Manzurin, the 25-year-old father, told Border Report they are safely in Seattle, Washington. He says they have bought a car, rented an apartment and are being helped by other Russian families who also crossed into South Texas before them.

That’s a common observation – migrants connect using social media apps. Drug cartels and human traffickers also use social media to recruit migrants. They distribute information, as the Russians have figured out to go more into the Rio Grande Valley rather than west to the California border.

Russians migrating to the United States have learned how to work the system.

Though the Biden administration hasn’t changed policies about dealing with Russian migrants, the government has expanded its use of preset appointments for migrants from any country to walk to a port of entry and request exemption from a public-health law known as Title 42, which has generally barred asylum seekers from legal border crossings since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many Russians have taken notice and advantage, according to attorneys and advocates.

“Russians are extremely savvy in terms of figuring out the ways to manage the system,” said Tatyana Edwards-Behar, a San Diego-based immigration lawyer who herself emigrated from Russia decades ago. “They have access to information. And they actively disseminate information.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in September that the administration welcomed Russian asylum seekers and that their requests would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The number of Russians seeking to cross the border has exploded during the Biden border crisis. Border Patrol agents have arrested 4,700 Russian migrants who crossed the border illegally since October. Border Patrol agents reported 415 such arrests during the same period a year ago. I wonder if the next move by Team Biden will be to grant special exceptions to Russians fleeing the war. Stranger things have happened with this administration.