Mexican authorities have reported an increase in the number of migrants from Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries who are trying to enter the United States to realize the "American dream".
Correspondents of the Voice of America and Radio Ozodi met with natives of Central Asia at the Mexican border.
The Government of Mexico reported that from 2021 to 2022, the number of migrants from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the country has doubled.
Journalist Ulanbek Asanaliev, who visited the border between Mexico and the United States, says that migrants often turn to criminals and smugglers to cross the border, although they understand that an attempt to illegally enter the United States can lead to robbery, assault, imprisonment or even death on the way.
Many of the migrants, according to the journalist, have Russian citizenship and claim that they arrived in Mexico for fear of being sent to war with Ukraine.
"More than one million Kyrgyzstanis, as well as citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are working in Russia. After the start of the war with Ukraine, the situation in Russia has changed and now people are going to other countries to make a living somehow," Ulanbek Asanaliev says.
Official statistics shows a significant increase in the number of Russian passport holders entering the United States through Mexico since the beginning of 2022, after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Journalists of the Voice of America and Radio Ozodi report that many migrants are trying to enter the United States through the border cities of Mexico – Tijuana and Reynosa.
The mayor of Reynoso, Carlos Ortiz, said in an interview with reporters that there are a lot of citizens of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan among the migrants.
"The number of migrants from these countries is growing every year," the head of Raynos added.
Many of the migrants, before arriving at the border, stop in the capital of Mexico City or the city of Cancun.
Enrique Lucero, a representative of the migration service of the city of Tijuana, says that asylum seekers from Asia, Russia and Kazakhstan, as a rule, prefer to live in hotels rather than in a tent city. That is why they are running out of money quickly.
"I got to Mexico within four months. I spent all the money on hotel accommodation. Now I don't even have money for lunch, I don't have any money at all," says Tajik Fayoz.
Despite the difficulties, many migrants are optimistic.
A young guy from Kyrgyzstan is sure that he will soon be in the USA. "I want to get to Philadelphia, my brother and friends are there," the migrant says.
