Several NGOs criticized the program recently announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that seeks to benefit only 24,000 Venezuela nationals.

The plan requires those entering the country legally to have a sponsor on US soil and meet other conditions such as a full vaccination scheme against COVID-19 and a security inspection.

25,000 Venezuela nationals arrived at the US border in August 2022 alone

Several NGOs, including Amnesty International and the Washington Office on Latin American (WOLA), raised objections to the new plan for different reasons. One of them is the use by the Biden administration of the questioned Title 42 implemented by the government of Donald Trump to expel migrants under an alleged health risk due to the coronavirus.

The president of Wola, Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, recalled that 25,000 Venezuela nationals arrived at the border between Mexico and the United States in August alone, a thousand more than the number of Venezuela nationals the new program is expecting to host.

Returned to Mexico

The WOLA Director for Defense Oversight, Adam Isacson, described the measure as “a campaign against migrants from Venezuela who seek protection.”

He recalled that the move contrasts with the assistance that Colombia provides to 2.5 million Venezuela nationals through the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelans launched by the government of Iván Duque.

Jiménez Sandoval and Isacson assured that the 24,000 Venezuelans that will benefit from the programs represent the number of Venezuelan nationals who enter the United States every three weeks under the current rates.

“Do not come through Mexico”, the DHS warns

On its website, the DHS assures that the plan seeks to “create a more orderly and safe process for people fleeing the humanitarian and economic crisis in Venezuela.”

However, the DHS also announced that “effective immediately, Venezuelans who enter the United States between ports of entry, without authorization, will be returned to Mexico.”

In response to the announcement, Isacson wrote: “Migrant shelters in #Mexico border cities were already close to or above capacity. What will happen when thousands of returned Venezuelans are pushed into those cities in the coming weeks? I don’t see any plans to address this ‘immediate effect’.”

The director of Amnesty International in Venezuela, Marcos Gómez, also joined the criticism of the Biden administration for approving the measure.

“Starting today, Biden will deport to Mexico all the Venezuelans who do not have a visa for their dream, even if they are fleeing misery, hunger and massive human rights violations,” the activist tweeted.

As part of the new program, the United States and Mexico will put in place new checkpoints, personnel and even “additional security assistance to support regional partners to address the migration challenges in the Darién Gap”

The DHS warned Venezuelans not to travel to Mexico to pursue entry into the United States.

Who is eligible

Here’s what the US Department of Homeland Security has said about the eligibility for this program.

To be eligible, Venezuelans must:

  • Have a supporter in the United States who will provide financial and other support;
  • Pass rigorous biometric and biographic national security and public safety screening and vetting; and
  • Complete vaccinations and other public health requirements.

Venezuelans are ineligible if they:

  • Have been ordered removed from the United States in the previous five years;
  • Have crossed without authorization between ports of entry after the date of announcement;
  • Have irregularly entered Mexico or Panama after the date of announcement, or are a permanent resident or dual national of any country other than Venezuela, or currently hold refugee status in any country; or
  • Have not completed vaccinations and other public health requirements.

Venezuelan migration

The United Nations Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants, R4V, updated the number of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the world. According to the platform, there are 7.1 million of them distributed across the globe, mostly in Latin American and Caribbean countries (almost 6 million).

Between January and September 2022, 151,572 migrants crossed the dangerous Darién gap, according to the Ministry of Public Security of Panama. 107,723 of them were Venezuelans, followed by Haitians (8,579), Cubans (4,322) and people from other countries (14,297).

In the announcement of a new program for Venezuelans, the DHS pointed out that “[a]verage monthly unique encounters of Venezuelan nationals at the land border totaled 15,494 in fiscal year 2022, rising further to over 25,000 in August and 33,000 in September, compared to a monthly average of 127 unique encounters from fiscal years 2014–2019.”

The Department added that 3,000 people cross the Darién each day, mostly Venezuelan nationals, as confirmed by figures from the Panamanian government.

Translated by José Rafael Medina