US reportedly allowed in dozens of Russians at southern border in secret deal with Mexico

Nearly three-dozen Russian nationals who fled their home country following the outbreak of the war with Ukraine reportedly were secretly permitted to enter the United States via Mexico after a deal was struck between U.S. and Mexican authorities.

The 35 Russians were delivered to the border under cover of night earlier this month and handed directly over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, according to a report in Vice.

The handoff is an apparent circumvention of the Title 42 laws that effectively denies asylum seekers at the border due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Biden administration has recently signaled that Title 42 laws will soon cease to be in effect, which will result in a surge in migrants applications for asylum coming from Central American countries as well as Ukraine and Russia.

Prior to being let into the U.S., the group of Russians reportedly spent a week camped out on the streets of Tijuana, close to the U.S. border that leads into San Diego.

After arriving in the U.S., the group was held in a detention center for several days before being let go and free to live relatively normal lives while awaiting their immigration hearings.

The deal between the U.S. and Mexico was reportedly arranged because of a growing encampment of Russians outside the San Ysidro Port of Entry. In exchange for passage into the U.S., the encampment was cleared away.

The State Department has thus far not commented on the special arrangement that was negotiated to allow in the Russians.