More Russians, Ukrainians seek asylum at U.S.-Mexico border

FILE PHOTO: A migrant mother seeking asylum in the U.S. from Ukraine holds her twin daughters near the border fence while waiting to be processed by the U.S. border patrol after crossing the border from Mexico at Yuma, Arizona, U.S., January 22, 2022. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/File Photo

(Reuters) - A growing number of Russians and Ukrainians are traveling to Mexico, buying throwaway cars and driving across the border into the United States to seek asylum, a trend that could accelerate as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced more than a million people to flee their homes.

U.S. border officials encountered about 6,400 Russians in the four months between October 2021 and January of this year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data show. That's more than the roughly 4,100 apprehended during the entire 2021 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The jump is similar for Ukrainians, with a little more than 1,000 apprehended since October 2021 through January, compared to about 680 for all of the last fiscal year.