The number of visas to be granted by the United States under the scheme of the new program (24,000) is insufficient in the face of the magnitude of the Venezuelan migration crisis, which has exceeded the response capacity of the receiving countries in Latin America, where there are at least five of the seven million displaced by the humanitarian emergency that Venezuela is experiencing
Blas Núñez-Neto, Acting Undersecretary for Border Policy and Immigration of the United States, attached to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reported that Venezuelan migrants will be able to apply online and free of charge, from any country in which they are located, to the new immigration program offered by the US government, which implies, among other benefits, authorization to fly directly by plane and reside in North American territory for two yearswith a guaranteed work permit.
The official explained that the request will have no cost for the applicant or the sponsor, which is a figure that is required within that plan with which the Joe Biden administration — until now criticized by Republican leaders for maintaining a “soft” immigration policy »— intends to reduce the number of nationals who arrive at the southern border with Mexico — through states like Texas— where In the last fiscal year, it is estimated that immigration agents recorded 180,000 encounters with citizens from Venezuela.. That number, given by Núñez-Neto at a press conference on October 13, is four times higher than that documented during 2021.
Also read: Keys to the new US program for Venezuelan migrants
He commented that this plan for Venezuelans is similar to the “United for Ukraine” process, in which migratory regularization was facilitated for Ukrainian citizens fleeing the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022. He pointed out that in that case there were experiences in which travel requests to the US were resolved in a weekso he hopes that with the Venezuelans the process will not be long either.
“It can be very fast, all online, if all the data is given well,” he said at the conference organized by the State Department, which he attended. SuchWhich.
According to Núñez, the administration of Andrés López Obrador, president of Mexico, is considering setting up shelters for Venezuelan migrants who are returned to that country, which by the way has already received this October 13 the first group of nationalsafter being transferred in a van of the National Migration Institute of that nation, in the middle of the international bridge between Eagle Pass – a city in the state of Texas, bordering Aztec territory – and Piedras Negras, the capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila .
“It is a question for the colleagues in Mexico, but I know that our colleagues were talking with international organizations to create shelters so that these people can have a place to stay. To the Venezuelans who are contemplating such a dangerous journey or who are on their way, do not continue north because you will not be able to enter through the border“, insisted the American authority.
BREAKING: First group of Venezuelans being expelled back to Mexico via new DHS T42 rule in van-to-van transfer from BP to INM in middle of international bridge btwn Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras @FoxNews @davidtresnowski pic.twitter.com/hz9KQ3YePy
— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) October 13, 2022
In this sense, when asked if the Biden government had mechanisms to ensure that the human rights of the returnees were not violated once in Mexico and that their return to Venezuela, where their lives could be at risk, was not contemplated, he only asserted the following: “The government of Mexico has its obligations under international law.”
Already the organization Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA), which promotes the defense of human rights on the continent, expressed being “alarmed” by the recent decisions by the US authorities and warned that, in the case of those returned through of the program stay in mexico, “Mexican management has not safeguarded the well-being and protection of migrants and asylum seekers at the border. It forced asylum seekers to wait on the Mexican side for immigration trials in US courts.
Even the secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, stated in recent days that “significant evidence indicates that people waiting for their judicial hearings in Mexico (…) were subjected to extreme violence and insecurity at the hands of criminal organizations. transnational corporations that benefited from the exploitation of migrants’ vulnerabilities.
The Department of Homeland Security “seems to have no qualms about increasing the number of migrants who will be exposed to serious danger by expulsion to Mexico,” the US-based non-governmental association said in a statement.
On the other hand, Núñez commented that it is not ruled out that in the future the program could be applied to other migrants from countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti, who have led, together with the Venezuelans, the caravans that depart from Central America bound for US soil.
What does the immigration program for Venezuelans consist of?
On September 21 of this year, Joe Biden indicated that he was working with Mexico and other Latin American countries to establish an immigration policy that would stop the flow at the southern border of his country. At that time he asserted that “it is not rational” to send undocumented migrants from Venezuela back to their country. Days later his administration made announcements that showed where the policy was pointing.
In a statement issued by the DHS on October 12, it was announced that, in order to reduce irregular and disorganized migration, a process will be launched “to legally and safely bring up to 24,000 qualified Venezuelans.” It is a Humanitarian or Significant Public Benefit Permit for people who are outside the United States (Parole) for nationals.
The problem is that the number of visas to be granted in this program is insufficient compared to the magnitude of the Venezuelan migration crisis, which has exceeded the response capacity of the receiving countries in Latin America, where, according to figures from the Coordination Platform Interagency for Venezuelan Refugees (R4V), five million Venezuelans are concentrated.
To get an idea of the scope of that plan: In August of this year alone, 25,000 Venezuelan migrants arrived at the border between the US and Mexico, according to data from the Border Patrol.
NGOs such as Amnesty International and representatives of the Juan Guaidó administration, including Carlos Vecchio, have criticized the measure.
“This is devastating. Those who flee Venezuela do not do so by choice, but by necessity, hunger, persecution, rape and a complex humanitarian emergency. Venezuelan refugees and migrants deserve protection, not more discrimination,” said the Venezuelan organization Provea.
The United States Department of Homeland Security also announced that all Venezuelan migrants who enter US territory illegally will be deported to Mexico, whose government accepted this measure, which is effective immediately.
We are concerned that as of today Venezuelans will be prevented from entering the US at the border. Humanitarian protection measures should not leave them more helpless as would happen with Venezuelans at the mercy of mafias in Mexico. We ask the US to prioritize Venezuelans who are already at the border. https://t.co/BMky4JaAtm
– CARLOS VECCHIO (@carlosvecchio) October 13, 2022
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