United States immigration officials will begin accepting applications for a new parole program for Venezuelan asylum seekers, in a plan that will expel most Venezuelans who try to enter the US across their southern border back to Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement from the Federal Register (PDF) on Tuesday announcing the official launch of the program, which was announced last week and will allow 24,000 Venezuelans to reach the US by air.
The plan, which aims to address the growing number of Venezuelans who have arrived at the US-Mexico border to apply for asylum, also includes expanding a border expulsion policy known as Title 42.
So far, the pandemic rule, which allows US authorities to quickly send most migrants back to Mexico without filing a petition, has largely been applied to asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Due to strained relations with the Venezuelan government, the US was unable to expel the country’s citizens. Instead, they could apply for asylum and travel to the US to pursue their cases.
But now, as part of the new deal, Mexico has agreed to accept Venezuelans. According to local media reports, hundreds have already been expelled to Mexico.
The development comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration has struggled to address the record number of migrants and asylum seekers arriving at the southern border with Mexico.
Three weeks until critical midterm elections that will determine control of the US Congress, Biden’s Republican rivals have taken up the issue and accused his government of mishandling the situation at the border.
US and international legal groups have adopted a new border policy for Venezuelans.
“While we welcome steps to securely process some Venezuelans, creating safe ways should never be taken to deny access to asylum to other people seeking protection,” dozens of human rights organizations wrote in a joint letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro last week. Mayorkas.
“We are also concerned that the announcement describes the Venezuelans’ attempt to enter the southern border as “illegal.” Applying for asylum is legal under both US and international law,” the
Migration advocates also argued that the 24,000 cap for Venezuelans allowed to enter the US is a negligible figure that does not counteract pressure at the border.
According to DHS records, more than 155,000 Venezuelans were arrested at the US-Mexico border at the end of August, a sharp increase from the previous year when more than 50,000 were arrested. According to the ministry, more than 25,000 Venezuelans crossed the border from Mexico in August alone.
“Right now, this appears to be a much bigger whip than a carrot strategy,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.
“Twenty-four thousand Venezuelans are a drop in the ocean in the larger plan of the Venezuelan refugee crisis,” Reichlin-Melnick told CNN Breaking News.
According to the DHS document, more than 3,000 people, most of them Venezuelan nationals, cross the Darien gap into Panama every day on their way north.
Personally, it’s hard not to see this as a massive whip and tiny carrot. According to DHS, 33,000 Venezuelans arrived in September and that 3,000 people per day (“mainly Venezuelans”) cross the Darien gap to Panama on their way north.
So a cap of 24,000 is, to be honest, crumbs. pic.twitter.com/m1tfjuiKYB
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) October 18, 2022
Citing an unnamed Mexican official, the Mexican Migration Board said on Monday that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had asked the US to accept a Venezuelan asylum seeker for every person expelled to Mexico.
“In this way, if the Biden government takes in 24,000 Venezuelans, Mexico will no longer accept 24,000 Venezuelans expelled from the United States,” the agency said in a statement.
According to DHS, applicants must have a sponsor in the USA, pass a security check and fly to an airport in the USA at their own expense to be eligible for the program. Those who are accepted can legally live and work in the USA.
DHS said the Uniting for Ukraine plan is modelled on a program developed by the Biden government that has allowed thousands of Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion to live and work in the US if they can secure a financial sponsor.
This immigration regime is limited to 100,000 Ukrainians.
At the same time, more than 6.8 million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2014, when the economy went into free fall. Most have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, but in recent months, many have flocked north towards the USA.