The Department of Homeland Security has announced plans that would allow U. S. officials to temporarily deport some Venezuelan migrants to Mexico in a bid to achieve the record number of others arriving at the southern border.
All Venezuelan migrants entering the United States between ports of access and authorization will be sent to Mexico promptly, the firm said Wednesday.
The announcement includes plans for a humanitarian program that would allow up to 24,000 Venezuelans to enter the country, given that they have a supporting sponsor in the United States and after completing a rigorous application process.
Approved applicants will fly directly to the U. S. and apply for work authorization, DHS said.
“These moves make it clear that there is a legal and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and legal access is the way,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayankas said in a written news release. “Those who attempt to illegally cross the southern border of the United States will be returned to Mexico and will no longer be eligible for this procedure in the future. “
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Supporters have denounced the program as absurd and discriminatory, saying the expansion of Title 42 will further jeopardize the protection of asylum seekers as they try to cross more harmful routes or face dangers while waiting in Mexican border communities.
Title 42 is a U. S. code. This is related to public suitability and welfare. Under segment 265 of the code, the surgeon general, or in this case the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would possibly prohibit access to or “introduction” of citizens in the interest of public suitability if there is a “communicable disease quarantine” in a foreign country and “serious danger” that they may also enter the United States.
The clause was enacted as part of the Public Health Services Act of 1944, but was rarely used until the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.
The expansion of the Biden administration’s fitness policy comes months after President Joe Biden attempted to rescind Title 42 in May. A federal ruling in Louisiana blocked the administration’s efforts, leaving politics in place indefinitely.
“While we applaud all efforts to create a safe and transparent resource for asylum seekers, we do not help in the way that is done,” said Chelsea Sachau, suggested leader of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project’s Border Action Team.
“This contributes to a border policy that has been very chaotic, confusing and inconsistent, as well as discriminatory. “
The limit of 24,000 applicants for the new program is largely overshadowed by the total number of more than 155,000 Venezuelans who have met in the U. S. So far in fiscal year 2022, according to U. S. Customs and Border Protection data. U. S.
“Based on the numbers we see at the border, that number will be exceeded,” Sachau said.
The total number of encounters includes other people who have made several attempts at crossing, which somewhat exaggerates the number of exclusive people arriving at the border.
The number of Venezuelans found at the border across the country has risen sharply in recent months, according to CBP data. Unique encounters through Venezuelans, which exclude other people who have had an encounter beyond in the last 12 months, higher than 293% between fiscal years 2021 and 2022, according to DHS.
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More than a quarter of Venezuela’s population has left the country, to DHS.
“Failed communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba are driving a new wave of migration into the Western Hemisphere, adding to the recent accumulation of encounters on the southwest border of the United States,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a press release.
In the past, Mexico had refused to settle for Venezuelans under Title 42, the pandemic fitness policy instituted in March 2020 that allows CBP to temporarily deport migrants and asylum seekers to Mexico or their home countries.
Prior to the announcement, only migrants from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador can return to Mexico under the fitness policy. Tense U. S. relations with Venezuela have made it difficult for the government to return others. to the country.
As part of the suitability policy, official ports of access along the U. S. -Mexico border are not allowed to be available. The U. S. and Mexican government are typically closed to asylum seekers, with some exceptions through humanitarian permission. The policy has led to asylum seekers having to report to Border Patrol agents between ports of access.
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Advocates and asylum seekers have denounced Title 42, which has hindered migrants’ ability to seek asylum in the United States and forced them to wait for months in Mexican border communities, facing discrimination and harmful conditions.
More than a million more people have been deported from the U. S. It will be in the U. S. under Title 42 in fiscal year 2022, according to CBP data.
“People are killed and injured every day because of Title 42,” Sachau said. “(The program) won’t work because it ultimately extends Title 42 to more people, which will put more people in grave danger. and result in the loss of more lives. “
The new procedure builds on the program created in April for Ukrainians fleeing their country after the Russian invasion. To be eligible for the program, Venezuelans will need to have someone in the United States willing to provide monetary and other support.
Applicants will also be required to go through rigorous biometric and national security checks, as well as full vaccinations and other public fitness requirements.
Venezuelans are eligible to apply for the program if they were deported from the U. S. Within the past five years, the U. S. Navy crossed between ports of access without authorization after the DHS announcement or illegally entered Panama or Mexico after the date of the announcement.
Applicants are also ineligible if they are permanent residents, have dual nationality, or are refugees in a country other than Venezuela.
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Sachau dismissed the new program for discriminating against Venezuelans who do not have contacts to sponsor them in the United States and migrants who may have already begun their adventure from the country.
“This unfairly punishes other Venezuelans who were already on their way or already in Mexico and who, again, are only seeking safety,” Sachau said. “They also deserve the possibility to apply for asylum, whether or not they have a circle of relatives here and whether or not that circle of relatives has legal personality.
The new program is illogical, even for applicants who meet all eligibility criteria, Sachau said. It would be incredibly complicated and harmful for Venezuelans fleeing political persecution, for example, to go out to download a passport and participate in the program, he said. Said.
“It would be like signaling to the entity that is hurting you that you intend to escape them,” Sachau said.
In addition, the program unfairly discriminates against people of different nationalities, such as other people from Northern Triangle countries, who have been subject to Title 42 for more than two years without an agreement to apply for asylum, he said.
“Asylum coverage should never be limited to just the other people with those relationships that have historically been based on nationality or socioeconomic status,” Sachau said.
Sachau said the only genuine solution to creating an organized asylum procedure is to completely repair access to ports of access for migrants seeking asylum.
Do you have a news tip or article about the border and its communities?Contact the journalist on jcastaneda1@arizonarepublic. com or connect with them on Twitter @joseicastaneda