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People from all over the world come to the United States via Mexico, and many of them choose New York as their destination. In addition to the countries of Central and South America, Russia occupies one of the leading places in terms of the number of arrivals in the immigration courts of the city, according to NY1.
Only Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia are ahead of Russia in terms of the number of immigrants. According to Syracuse University, 7,086 arrivals from Russia were registered with the New York Immigration Court. The university receives documents and data on migration trends from the federal government through Freedom of Information Act requests.
A man who came from the city on the Neva
As the sun rises over Gravesend in Brooklyn, Alexey Shaposhnikov is already on his way to work. According to Alexei, he literally wakes up every morning and says to himself: “God bless the United States.” Such emotions are closely related to what he experienced in his homeland.
Shaposhnikov is from Russia, and the invasion of Ukraine made him furious. His son is Ukrainian, and Aleksey immediately joined the protests by handing out leaflets in St. Petersburg. The Russian police tried to arrest him. However, the man was able to slip away in the crowd, avoiding a possible lengthy jail term for participating in anti-war protests. As Shaposhnikov said, he knew he had to leave.
Siberia – Mexico – New York
In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Gennady Zemin is hard at work typing on his computer. This is the only way he can express his position in the struggle taking place at a distance of 8,000 km. He is originally from Siberia and served in the Russian army about 15 years ago. He now posts daily on social media criticizing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The last straw for his decision to leave was the information that Russians were being forced to join the fighting, even being pulled out of bed at night. Zemin had no intention of participating in this. So he and his family, like the Shaposhnikov family, decided to go on a long trip to Mexico. Zemins traveled half the world to surrender to the border police.
Traveling to Mexico by plane is, oddly enough, one of the easiest ways to get into the US. You don’t need a visa to travel to Mexico, NY1 immigration lawyers say.
On the subject: Bicycles are given to migrants in New York: where to go
new reality
Meeting such families in New York is becoming more and more common, as the number of Russians who apply to the immigration court in New York has increased significantly. Between October 2022 and May 2023, the number of applications was 7,000 compared to the period from October 2021 to September 2022, when there were 2,963.
“We are seeing more and more refugees from Russia trying to come to the US,” says Mikhail Levitis, administrator of a popular Facebook group for Russian speakers in the United States. Mikhail organizes online seminars with immigration lawyers offering advice to Russian-speaking migrants.
“The longer the war goes on, the more people will want to leave Russia,” notes Levitis.
Lawyer Yakov Spektor confirms the increase in the number of Russian-speaking clients who turn to him. Most of them are trying to escape from hostilities. He takes part in online seminars organized by Levitis, where he answers questions in Russian, such as whether it is worth applying for asylum if a person is fleeing due to military conscription.
“Simply fleeing the country to evade mobilization is unfortunately not enough,” he emphasizes during one of these seminars, and notes that proof of persecution for refusing to participate in hostilities or draft evasion is key.
According to him, you need to show that you have political motives, and as an example he cited participation in protests, for which they face tough prison sentences that Russia assigns for freedom of thought.
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most of them approve asylum applications
People from all over the world come to the United States via Mexico, and many of them choose New York as their destination. In addition to the countries of Central and South America, Russia occupies one of the leading places in terms of the number of arrivals in the immigration courts of the city, according to NY1.
Only Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia are ahead of Russia in terms of the number of immigrants. According to Syracuse University, 7,086 arrivals from Russia were registered with the New York Immigration Court. The university receives documents and data on migration trends from the federal government through Freedom of Information Act requests.
A man who came from the city on the Neva
As the sun rises over Gravesend in Brooklyn, Alexey Shaposhnikov is already on his way to work. According to Alexei, he literally wakes up every morning and says to himself: “God bless the United States.” Such emotions are closely related to what he experienced in his homeland.
Shaposhnikov is from Russia, and the invasion of Ukraine made him furious. His son is Ukrainian, and Aleksey immediately joined the protests by handing out leaflets in St. Petersburg. The Russian police tried to arrest him. However, the man was able to slip away in the crowd, avoiding a possible lengthy jail term for participating in anti-war protests. As Shaposhnikov said, he knew he had to leave.
Siberia – Mexico – New York
In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Gennady Zemin is hard at work typing on his computer. This is the only way he can express his position in the struggle taking place at a distance of 8,000 km. He is originally from Siberia and served in the Russian army about 15 years ago. He now posts daily on social media criticizing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The last straw for his decision to leave was the information that Russians were being forced to join the fighting, even being pulled out of bed at night. Zemin had no intention of participating in this. So he and his family, like the Shaposhnikov family, decided to go on a long trip to Mexico. Zemins traveled half the world to surrender to the border police.
Traveling to Mexico by plane is, oddly enough, one of the easiest ways to get into the US. You don’t need a visa to travel to Mexico, NY1 immigration lawyers say.
On the subject: Bicycles are given to migrants in New York: where to go
new reality
Meeting such families in New York is becoming more and more common, as the number of Russians who apply to the immigration court in New York has increased significantly. Between October 2022 and May 2023, the number of applications was 7,000 compared to the period from October 2021 to September 2022, when there were 2,963.
“We are seeing more and more refugees from Russia trying to come to the US,” says Mikhail Levitis, administrator of a popular Facebook group for Russian speakers in the United States. Mikhail organizes online seminars with immigration lawyers offering advice to Russian-speaking migrants.
“The longer the war goes on, the more people will want to leave Russia,” notes Levitis.
Lawyer Yakov Spektor confirms the increase in the number of Russian-speaking clients who turn to him. Most of them are trying to escape from hostilities. He takes part in online seminars organized by Levitis, where he answers questions in Russian, such as whether it is worth applying for asylum if a person is fleeing due to military conscription.
“Simply fleeing the country to evade mobilization is unfortunately not enough,” he emphasizes during one of these seminars, and notes that proof of persecution for refusing to participate in hostilities or draft evasion is key.
According to him, you need to show that you have political motives, and as an example he cited participation in protests, for which they face tough prison sentences that Russia assigns for freedom of thought.
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