Another change in the US position, adopted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is forcing people fleeing Putin’s mobilization to return to Russia.
The Joe Biden administration has quietly resumed deportations to Russia, a clear change of stance taken after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago, when such deportations were halted. It is reported by The Guardian.
It is noted that this weekend a Russian who came to the United States to escape Russian mobilization for the war in Ukraine was deported back to Russia.
The emigre was among several Russian asylum seekers, many of whom fled to the US last year and now fear the US government will deport them to Russia, where they could face jail or an ambulance to the front line.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) remains committed to humane, efficient, and professional immigration enforcement. Ice facilitates the movement and removal of non-citizens by commercial airlines and charter flights as required by the mission,” the federal agency said this week, adding : Ice exports to other countries, including Russia, in accordance with the country’s export guidelines.”
News of the resumption of deportations to Russia comes just over a year after reports that the Biden administration had suspended deportation flights to Russia, Ukraine and seven other European countries during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It is unclear when deportations to Russia resumed. The White House did not respond to the publication’s request for comment.
Texas lawyer Jennifer Scarborough, whose clients include four Russians who entered the US across the border from Mexico and are seeking asylum, said the men cited fear of being drafted to fight.
Scarborough said Ice representatives told her that one of her clients was deported over the weekend. She explained that she had no doubt that he had been taken to Russia.
“I don’t know what will happen to him,” Scarborough said. Russia has been incredibly vocal about its feelings for the opposition. The mere fact that they fled Russia to go to the United States puts them at risk.”
Earlier, Focus wrote that 46 citizens from Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries tried to illegally enter Poland through Belarus at various border points.
