The United States has ordered a new regulatory policy that forces thousands of Venezuelans to return to Mexico, with the intention of reducing the number of migrants to the North American country. This policy still applies to Nicaraguans, but they assure that due to the growing migratory flow it could reach the citizens of the Central American country.
In an interview offered by Blas Nuñez-Neto, in charge of border policy at the United States Department of Homeland Security, to the media voice of americaaffirmed that this process at the moment is only for citizens of Venezuela and their families, but warns that “we are going to be closely reviewing how this process works and if it works, and if it has the effect that we hope it will have, it could be expanded ».
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Until now, Nicaraguans are protected and the new humanitarian permit program does not apply Title 42 to them, which establishes that, for a person to be expelled from the US, there must be a country that is willing to accept the migrant. “The United States cannot unilaterally expel a Nicaraguan to Mexico, for example, without the permission of that government,” explained the policy director of the American Immigration Council (AIC) to the Voice of America.
Currently neither Mexico nor Nicaragua have decided to accept the deportees. The migration policy expert added that the US government could implement a program for Nicaraguans similar to the humanitarian permit for Venezuelans.
“Today, a Nicaraguan migrant can cross the border. And because they are largely exempt from Title 42 due to these diplomatic, geopolitical and logistical reasons, Nicaraguan migrants crossing the border today are not expelled under Title 42 and are mostly released directly at the border or sent to ICE detention centers where they can apply for asylum if they so wish,” adds the expert.
Gabriela Canavati, spokesperson for the United States Embassy in Managua, also told the outlet that regarding the question of whether there would be talks to implement similar humanitarian permit programs for Nicaraguans, she assures that President Biden’s administration “continually reviews the policies that promote safe, legal, and humane migration options for all those seeking to enter the United States.”
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“The axis of our policy towards Nicaragua is support for the Nicaraguan people. At this time there is nothing further to announce regarding this or any other parole programs,” Canavati said.
The administration has also doubled down on the effort to dismantle human smuggling networks by increasing more than 1,300 troops in Latin America and around the US border and committing about $50 million to the effort. The administration reports that nearly 5,000 arrests have been made in the US and throughout the region as part of that effort.
Until August 2022, there were 108,018 Nicaraguan migrants who have entered the United States irregularly. The border patrol reports that between 2020 and 2022 it captured 199,023 Nicaraguans who irregularly crossed the US border
