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Biden’s administration is drawing up plans for Venezuelans with economic backers to download parole to enter the United States, about how Ukrainians were admitted after Russia’s invasion, U. S. officials said Tuesday.
Four officials defined the plan to deal with a sharp increase in the number of Venezuelans arriving at the U. S. border with Mexico. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Venezuelans who cross the border illegally by land would be returned to Mexico, two officials said. Currently, Mexico only accepts migrants deported under the authority of Title 42, a pandemic-era rule that denies migrants the right to seek asylum and is designed to save you from the spread of COVID-19 – if they come from Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras, in addition to Mexico.
Venezuelans eligible for parole would enter the United States at airports, two officials said, mirroring a program unveiled in April for Ukrainians with monetary backers to stay for up to two years.
Officials insisted emphatically that discussions were smooth and that plans could change. The plans were reported earlier Tuesday via CNN and the New York Times.
While main questions remain, such as how much he would be eligible for parole and where the planes would board the Venezuelans, the discussions demonstrate fear about what has emerged as a major challenge to the government in the U. S. The U. S. , Mexico, and Central America and control of a hemispheric agreement. reached in June in Los Angeles for migrant-hosting countries to address the disruptions together.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said it will announce the main points when the talks end.
“We are discussing a new technique that includes migration from Mexico and northern Central American countries, as well as Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, in an orderly manner and with employment options,” the ministry said in a statement.
Venezuelans recently surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to the point when they arrested Venezuelans at the U. S. border. After the Mexicans. In August, Venezuelans were arrested 25,349 times, up 43% from 17,652 in July and 4 times more than the 6,301 encounters in August 2021, indicating a remarkably sudden demographic shift. .
An estimated 6. 8 million Venezuelans have fled their country since the economy collapsed in 2014, most commonly to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. But the relative strength of the U. S. economy since the COVID-19 pandemic has driven Venezuelan migrants to turn north. Moreover, strained relations with the Venezuelan government make it incredibly complicated to send them home under the authority of Title 42, encouraging others to come.
Mexico, under pressure from the Biden administration, imposed air restrictions to restrict Venezuelan migration to the United States in January, but many later moved to a harmful land direction that passes through Panama’s notorious Darien Gap.
The plan being developed would aim to deter Venezuelans from traveling overland and serve as a conditional release for Ukrainians. August.
“United for Ukraine,” as the parole program is called, ended well with a short trip to Mexico as a tourist and reporting to US border crossings.
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Associated Press editors Matthew Lee and Colleen Long in Washington and Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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