In Wyoming, Russian lama and former abbot of the Kerensky Monastery in the Tunkinsky district of Buryatia, Baldan Bazarov, were detained by US Immigration Service (ICE) officers, People of Baikal reported.
There are no details about the arrest. We do not know that this happened until April 29. The “people of Baikal” claim that Bazarov could face deportation.
After the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Bazarov openly opposed the fighting. “Buddha said: You cannot kill even a mosquito, not even an insect. Every living being is sacred. Especially – [нельзя убивать] “A person,” the lama is quoted as saying, “the people of Baikal.”
As the publication notes, “Because of his position, the lama immigrated to the United States and requested political asylum there. In the United States, Bazarov worked as a worker – a hotel cleaner, courier, and laundress. For the past year he has been living in California and working as a driver.
During Donald Trump’s second presidential term, the United States tightened immigration policies. Anti-war Russians, who were denied asylum, were also expelled from the country en masse. In Russia, many of them face persecution.