Amid migrant surge, nationals from Russia, India, China encountered at US southern border

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Rep. Tony Gonzales criticizes the Biden administration's policies for 'encouraging' migrants to make the trip to the southern border.

Amid the more than 1.7 million migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2021, it was not just migrants from nearby countries who attempted to enter the United States – thousands came from places like China, India and Russia.

The vast majority of encounters were from nearby countries like Mexico (655,594) and Northern Triangle countries like Honduras (319,324), where migrants made the journey north through Mexico to the U.S. border.

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But a smaller number also came through from other countries, giving insight into how the southern border attracts dozens of nationalities from across the globe – even if they make up a fraction of the overall migrant surge.

According to CBP figures, there were 2,588 Indian nationals encountered, up from 1,120 in FY 2020. There were 450 encounters with Chinese nationals in FY 2021, down from the 1,738 in FY 2020. 

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There were 4,103 encounters from Russia, up from 467 in FY2020. Other countries included Turkey (1,409) and Ukraine (676). There are an additional 20,707 migrants listed as coming from "other" countries outside those listed – up from 7,047 in FY2020.

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The State Department recently announced $2 million in reward for information about a Pakistani man's smuggling network that moves individuals into the United States from the Middle East and southwest Asia for money. The suspect is also alleged to have offered or provided false travel documents to those seeking entry into the U.S.

There were more than 192,000 migrant encounters in September, a slight decrease from the more than 200,000 encounters in both August and July.

The Biden administration has blamed a number of factors, including the sealing off of legal asylum pathways by the Trump administration, but has focused on root causes in Central America like poverty, corruption and violence in Central America.

Sept. 18, 2021: Migrants camp under the International Bridge in Del Rio. (Rep. Pfluger.)

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Republicans have pointed to the Biden administration's rollback of Trump-era policies that they say has contributed to the pull factors bringing migrants north. Those moves include ending the border wall construction, stopping the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and reducing enforcement of Title 42 public health expulsions.

However, the administration has been ordered by a federal court to reimplement MPP – which saw the return of migrants to Mexico as they awaited their hearings. The administration says it believes it will be in a position to reimplement the policy by mid-November.