Share

Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.

Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.

Subscribe now

Table of Contents

1. Integration and Development

2. Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

3. Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

4. Labor Migration

5. Migrants in Transit

6. Borders and Enforcement

7. More on Migration

Integration and Development

🌎 Regional

• Ipsos polling across 29 countries globally—including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru—finds Brazil as one of the most welcoming countries to refugees across the sample, highlights MigraMundo.

🇨🇴 Colombia

• A World Bank working paper employing a fuzzy regression discontinuity design examines the impact of Colombia’s 2018 PEP regularization for Venezuelan migrants, finding that in the medium term, migrants eligible for regularization felt greater belonging, had more friendships with Colombians and greater community participation and attachment. “Economic gains, by contrast, arose immediately and largely persisted. Eligible migrants earned 69 percent higher monthly labor income, scored 2.6 standard deviations higher on a service access index, and made substantial investments in housing, with housing quality increasing from 0.60 to 1.27 standard deviations between survey waves. The implied fiscal savings to Colombia also increased over time.”

🇦🇷 Argentina

• Although Argentina has historically adopted a relatively welcoming approach to immigration, the Milei government has taken a more restrictive stance inspired by Donald Trump in the US, says El País.

🇨🇦 Canada

• A Canadian government report “provides a comprehensive overview of the diverse characteristics of Latin American populations in Canada. It examines key aspects, such as place of residence, age distribution, language, immigration characteristics, religious affiliation, educational attainment, employment and occupation, income levels and experiences of social inclusion. Many of these dimensions are further analyzed by country of birth, offering deeper insight into the varied trajectories and outcomes within Latin American communities.” (news release)

🇺🇸 United States

• “Stepped-up immigration enforcement last year cost Los Angeles businesses millions of dollars, Brittny Mejia of the Los Angeles Times reports. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a nonprofit in the city studied businesses within half a mile of nine sites of enforcement actions. In just the two weeks following those actions, customer visits were down by 46,000 and businesses lost an estimated $3.16 million. Almost a year later, 95% said they were still stressed financially, Mejia reports… The new research doesn’t stand alone. In the Houston Chronicle, columnist Chris Tomlinson points to multiple studies showing that immigration restrictions are hurting economies and costing jobs for people born here, too,” explains National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily.

• “The Department of Homeland Security is correcting regulations released earlier this year to reinstate a 30-day processing time frame for asylum seekers’ initial work permit applications,” reports Bloomberg, explaining, “An interim final rule issued April 29 silently dropped a longstanding regulatory requirement for making decisions on asylum employment authorization applications.” (see AMB 7/13/26)

Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

🌎 Regional

• “Governments across (Latin America and the Caribbean) have experimented with a variety of tools to manage large-scale migration and displacement in a pragmatic way. These have ranged from regularisation programmes and integration initiatives to—more recently—refugee labour pathways and referral networks connecting displaced individuals to opportunities elsewhere,” explains an MPI policy brief issuing recommendations for Europe on the basis of experiences from the Americas in labor mobility and complementary pathways for protection.

🇻🇪 Venezuela

• Following a pair of devastating earthquakes in Venezuela last month, “Nearly 23,100 people are currently in temporary camps across La Guaira, the Capital District, Miranda and Aragua,” notes UNICEF.

🇵🇦 Panama

• “A 30-year-old Venezuelan man died in Panama after the bus he was traveling in with nine other migrants, who were part of a voluntary repatriation program, crashed, the Panamanian government reported Thursday,” reports EFE, explaining that as part of the program, migrants are bussed to the Darien Gap and then either take a US-funded flight or a boat to Colombia.

🇵🇪 Peru

• “A 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook the Andes region of Peru, killing at least six people, authorities said yesterday. More than 30 people were injured and 300 have been displaced, reports the Guardian.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

• Video of Dominican immigration agents transporting a handcuffed Haitian migrant horizontally and precariously on motorcycle has gone viral, provoking outrage, according to France-Antilles.

🇺🇸 United States

• More than 300,000 Haitian immigrants in the US are set to lose TPS today, July 27th. ICE is making plans for “a potential arrest and deportation blitz,” per CBS. “U.S. officials have warned the Haitian government that… they should expect at least two weekly flights returning a total of 250 people,” reports Miami Herald. Many are concerned about protection for Haitian deportees; see, for example, an opinion piece at The New Humanitarian and Miami Herald on criticisms from Congress.

• An ACLU report “documents widespread civil rights violations carried out by immigration agents during the first year of President Trump’s second term.”

  • Chicago Sun-Times reports on the status of the city of Chicago’s efforts to hold US immigration agents accountable for abuses; “Police officials said the department had finalized internal procedures to implement the order, nearly five months after the mayor’s 30-day deadline. However, they wouldn’t say why it took so long.”

• A Human Rights Watch and ACLU report documents abuses in an immigration detention center located on a military base in Texas.

• Democrat-run cities and states rebuffing immigration detention may be counterproductive for their interests as migrants are instead relocated to Republican-run spaces, according to The Atlantic: “In addition to being more distant from family members, immigration courts in Texas and Louisiana have judges who reject asylum claims at some of the highest rates in the country, federal data show. And sanctuary cities such as New York and Chicago generally have more legal-aid organizations that can help ICE detainees get out of custody and fight deportation.”

• “The Trump administration’s removal of more than 100 immigration judges is undermining the independence of the courts ​and the U.S. justice system, a panel of independent experts appointed by ‌the United Nations Human Rights Council said on Thursday.” (Reuters)

• “Nearly two decades ago, Congress made a promise to unaccompanied immigrant children: if you come to the United States, your case will be heard in a court of law and you will have access to a lawyer. That commitment led to the creation of the Unaccompanied Children Program, with bipartisan support in Congress… Since President Trump returned to office, his administration has made a coordinated effort to weaken and disassemble longstanding legal aid programs for immigrant children while accelerating deportation proceedings,” per Securing America’s Promise.

• “Kalshi Wants You to Bet on How Many People ICE Abducts Today: A CFTC filing obtained by Migrant Insider shows the exchange quietly built a market that lets traders wager on ICE’s daily arrest count with three confidential appendices the public never saw.” (Migrant Insider)

Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

🇨🇷🇺🇸 United States and Costa Rica

• Of 207 total third country deportees sent to Costa Rica by the US between March 2026 and July 2nd, 90 remain in the Central American country, reports La Nación, investigating the situation; “the individuals are staying at two hotels in San José… Costa Rica has not allocated any of its own resources for the lodging or upkeep of the relocated individuals… difficulties persist with language barriers and the recognition of immigration documents received by those who choose to remain in Costa Rica.” Only 6 of the deportees have reportedly applied for asylum in Costa Rica.

  • “One of the main criticisms is directed at the Assisted Voluntary Return program, administered by the IOM. According to an anonymous source, many people agree to return without fully understanding other protection options, such as the possibility of seeking asylum in Costa Rica.”

🇩🇴🇨🇱 Chile and Dominican Republic

• Chile and Dominican Republic are establishing a joint investigation team against human trafficking and migrant smuggling, among other offenses. (El Caribe)

🇨🇷🇵🇦 Panama and Costa Rica

• “The governments of Panama and Costa Rica have agreed to create a health card for the Panamanian Ngäbe Buglé indigenous people, who often migrate seasonally to (Costa Rica) to work in the coffee harvest, in order to share medical data and avoid duplicating vaccination schedules for minors,” notes EFE, adding, “beneficiaries will be able to present the document at Costa Rican health services to receive medical care with the support of their health history.”

🇨🇷🇪🇸 Spain and Costa Rica

• Spain resettled 41 Nicaraguan refugees from Costa Rica. (EFE)

Labor Migration

🇨🇷 Costa Rica

• “A pilot labour mobility initiative between Costa Rica and El Salvador facilitated the recruitment of 12 Salvadoran bus drivers with IOM’s technical support — a model that could be scaled up to help address an estimated shortage of more than 1,500 drivers in Costa Rica, while expanding regular labour mobility opportunities across the region, including for Costa Ricans seeking employment abroad,” notes IOM, adding that in Costa Rica, “Between 2025 and 2026, more than 15,000 agricultural migrant workers obtained temporary work permits through the Migrant Labour Traceability System (SITLAM), developed by IOM, and more than 500 companies received support to recruit migrant workers through labor inclusion programs.”

🇺🇸 United States

• A paper by IFP’s Jeremy Neufeld “charts the alphabet soup of high-skilled immigration pathways—F-1/OPT, J-1, H-1B, O-1A, EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3—demonstrating how inflexible and outdated rules have undermined the scale, selectivity, and retention of global talent. It proposes reforms to make immigration a renewed national strength: expanding green cards, piloting a points-based system for permanent residency, and launching a government talent-scouting arm.”

• A Fwd.us policy brief explains the elimination of Duration of Status for international students and others (see last week’s AMB), noting that the new policy will make it harder for employers to recruit US-educated international workers given disruptions to OPT.

Migrants in Transit

🌎 Regional

• An IOM brief explores Cuban migration dynamics in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2026, highlighting growing arrivals to Brazil and Uruguay.

🇸🇻 El Salvador

• “A total of 513 foreigners may reside permanently in El Salvador after receiving permanent residency in the first half of 2026…. The figure marks a significant difference compared to last year, when only 70 people obtained that permit,” says Infobae, adding, “Access to temporary residency also increased considerably. 1,509 foreigners received this status, far exceeding the 407 cases of the previous year.”

🇨🇼 Curaçao

• “Curaçao gained over 2,400 inhabitants through migration in 2025. Approximately 5,900 people settled on the island, while nearly 3,500 left… Of the people who settled in Curaçao in 2025, nearly half came from the Netherlands. Venezuela ranked second with almost eighteen percent,” per official statistics consulted by Curaçao.nu.

🇵🇪 Peru

• A UNFPA technical note examines internal and international migration in Peru with an emphasis on demographic trends.

Borders and Enforcement

🇧🇷 Brazil

• Brazil’s Federal Police launched Operation Trapaceiros to investigate a network facilitating irregular Cuban migration to Brazil via Guyana (Globo; relatedly, see AMB 6/15/26)

🇺🇸 United States

• “The Trump Administration is seeking construction companies to build additional immigration detention units in as many as 14 different locations in the United States, documents show—including the Virgin Islands and Guantanamo Bay,” reports Time

• After months of not publishing data, ICE reports that “as of July 11, the agency currently holds 65,765 people in custody across the country—up from 60,311 on April 4 but is below the record high of 70,766 on January 24 of this year,” per Austin Kocher at his Substack.

• “More than 100,000 people have received letters from the Homeland Security Department informing them that they owe $998 for each day that they have stayed in the United States after an immigration judge has ruled they have no legal right to remain in the country,” reports New York Times, noting, “Fines for failing to heed a “removal” order have been permitted since the passage of immigration legislation in 1996. Until President Trump, however, no commander in chief had imposed such penalties. The effort to do so in his first term ran into logistical obstacles and never gained traction.”

More on Migration

🇲🇽🇺🇸 United States and Mexico

• A paper at World Development examines how border enforcement efforts impact development in countries of origin: the US Secure Communities program increased deportations of Mexican immigrants and made low-skill irregular migration less attractive in sending communities, in turn prompting increased school enrollment and attendance in affected Mexican municipalities.

Share

Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.

Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.

Subscribe now

Table of Contents

1. Integration and Development

2. Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

3. Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

4. Labor Migration

5. Migrants in Transit

6. Borders and Enforcement

Integration and Development

🇨🇱 Chile

• Ipsos polling finds warming attitudes towards migration in Chile amid the Kast administration’s hardline approach: between 2025 and 2026, “The largest increases were seen in the number of people who believe a country can benefit from receiving migrants, rising from 42% to 60% (+18 pp.), and in the agreement that the State should protect and respect the human rights of migrants, regardless of their immigration status, increasing from 44% to 60% (+16 pp.). However, although it increased by 10 pp., the agreement that the State should ensure health and education for the migrant population only reached 50%,” reports Diario UChile.

🇧🇿 Belize

• IDB highlights efforts to facilitate migrants’ access to public health care in Belize. Community Health Workers (CHWs), for example, are a key investment: “For migrant agricultural workers who depend on daily wages, a five-hour wait is not just an inconvenience, it can mean a day’s income lost… Investments in the CHW platform aim to bring more services and health information closer to communities, reducing pressure on facilities. A patient portal with an appointment system is also being developed to reduce walk-ins and make care more predictable.”

🇨🇴 Colombia

• Amid questions over the direction of his future migration policy (see last week’s AMB), Colombian president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella stated during a public address, “All migrants who are legally here contributing to the country will be protected and supported… Those who are here illegally, committing crimes, will be returned without delay to their countries of origin,” per Infobae.

🇪🇨 Ecuador

• A CEDA fact sheet on Ecuador covers a wide range of issues related to migration to and from the country.

🇺🇸 United States

• “The Trump administration on Thursday revived a policy that gives immigration officers wide authority to deny green cards to people they deem likely to rely on public assistance, a significant change that could deter hundreds of thousands of immigrants from using such programs,” reports New York Times, noting that the policy “was swiftly denounced by immigrant advocates for discouraging families from seeking food stamps or housing vouchers they qualify for, potentially hurting their U.S.-born children.”

• “U.S. Employers Told to Dismiss Thousands of Immigrant Workers: Shifting deadlines are confusing businesses as the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and others looms, making them ineligible to live and work in the United States.” (New York Times)

• “Federal regulators on Monday directed banks and credit unions to more closely scrutinize the loans they make to immigrants who are in the country illegally,” reports Politico.

Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

🇲🇽 Mexico

• “Michoacán approved a protocol for addressing forced internal displacement and reformed its Penal Code to classify this crime, with the technical support of UNHCR… thus consolidating one of the most comprehensive institutional frameworks in the country on the matter,” reports Infobae.

🇺🇸 United States

• Last week’s AMB noted that an ICE officer had shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in Houston. AP highlights the ICE agents weren’t using body cameras.

  • “The US rejects Mexico’s interference in the management of ICE centers and returns its letters of protest over migrant deaths” (El País; see last week’s AMB)

• Just days later, an ICE officer shot and killed another immigrant, this time in Maine: “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press. David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years,” reports AP.

  • Colombian president Gustavo Petro condemned the incident. (EFE)

• And yet another death involving immigration enforcement was reported in Florida: “A man fleeing federal agents in Florida was struck and killed by a tractor trailer, marking at least the 10th death involving encounters with immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign,” reports AP.

• “ICE Reports 22nd Detention Death of 2026: Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, Dies During a Transfer in Georgia” (Austin Kocher’s Substack)

• “President Trump on Wednesday demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers continue to stop vehicles as they seek to detain people in the country without legal status, despite two fatal shootings that led to a temporary halt to the practice just a day before,” reports New York Times.

  • There have been “at least 17 shootings of motorists by federal immigration officers since the beginning of Trump’s term nearly 18 months ago,” per Washington Post.

• “Federal agents around the country were told in recent days that the F.B.I. would no longer investigate confrontations with immigration agents — cases that sometimes yield evidence that could be used to prosecute Department of Homeland Security agents implicated in violent encounters… If enacted, such a change would sharply limit law enforcement scrutiny of immigration agents,” says New York Times.

  • Relatedly, ICE data has gone dark, per The Marshall Project: “ICE hasn’t released its semimonthly “Detention Management” report on arrests, detentions and deportations since April 9, when the agency reported holding more than 60,000 people in custody. News media, think tanks and academia have requested the missing data, and ICE has refused to deliver it, sparking at least three separate lawsuits.”

Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

🌎 Regional

• “The announcement that Grenada and St Lucia are taking steps to join four other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) members in their free-movement regime is an important development in advancing CARICOM’s move towards a genuine single market and economy… At the same time, the declaration of intent by Grenada and St Lucia to open their borders, without restrictions, to nationals of reciprocating CARICOM members, reprises questions about Jamaica’s plans on this matter. The Holness administration has said that it is committed to the idea. There is, however, little evidence that Kingston is undertaking the technical work necessary for Jamaica’s transition to the regime,” says a Gleaner editorial. (see last week’s AMB)

🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional

• “As part of its drive to ramp up mass deportations, the Trump administration is exploring the possibility of building detention facilities in other nations that could each hold up to 1,000 “illegal aliens,”” reports The Redoubt.

  • “While DHS primarily refers to these potential facilities as “international staging areas,” indicating they would be temporary transit points, that’s not the only term it uses. In a section on emergency preparedness, the department’s statement of work twice uses the term “detention facility,” which suggests a longer period of incarceration.”

• “Belize has officially received its first migrant under the country’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. Love News has confirmed that a 41-year-old Haitian national arrived in Belize,” reports LoveFM.

• Antigua and Barbuda’s legislature continues discussions on how the country should negotiate third-country deportations by the US; the country’s prime minister has suggested a US$75,000 fee per migrant. (Observer 1, 2)

• The presidents of the US and El Salvador met to discuss migration, among other issues. (El País)

  • Tim Muth at El Salvador Perspectives believes a lack of publicity from Bukele about the meeting indicates that the Trump administration is set to let TPS for El Salvador expire on September 9.

• US and Guatemalan officials met to discuss migration, among other issues. (Prensa Libre)

• “DHS and CARICOM IMPACS, the Caribbean Community’s implementation agency for crime and security, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) at the Saint Kitts and Nevis embassy in Washington on July 10 to share biometric data across the region. Its framework reaches into the five Eastern Caribbean citizenship by investment (CBI) programs, and DHS ties the deal to the same concerns that drove this year’s US travel restrictions,” per IMI.

  • Meanwhile, amid recent controversies surrounding CBI (see last week’s AMB), Antigua and Barbuda is moving to up requirements for the program. (IMI)

🇪🇸🇵🇾 Paraguay and Spain

• Paraguayan and Spanish officials met to discuss the circular labor migration program between the two countries, reportedly agreeing to establish mechanisms to monitor and support Paraguayan returnees and “promoting the application of knowledge acquired in Spain.” (LatAm Gremial)

  • “The statement emphasizes that this support ultimately seeks to “strengthen productive development” in the workers’ communities of origin, thus linking the migratory experience with local agricultural development.”

Labor Migration

🇨🇱 Chile

• Earlier this month, the Kast administration “Undersecretary of Agriculture met with the National Migration Service and the National Agricultural Society (SNA) , with the objective of analyzing the possibilities to make the hiring requirements of foreign seasonal workers in our country more flexible,” reports InfoMigra, noting that measures are “aimed primarily at Bolivian seasonal workers.”

🇯🇲 Jamaica

• The Jamaican government is pursuing new strategies to address the emigration of teachers, reports Radio Jamaica News. “Dr. Troupe said one solution is to attract more international students to Jamaica’s teacher’s colleges, helping to expand enrolment while generating additional revenue for the institutions.”

  • In 2024, I wrote a special edition of the AMB exploring potential solutions to address the emigration of Caribbean teachers, as well as healthcare workers—two sectors where the region frequently loses talent and thus struggles with reduced local capacity.

🇺🇸 United States

• “Foreign students on F-1 visas will be limited to four-year stays in the US under new regulations finalized by the Department of Homeland Security,” reports Bloomberg. “The DHS rule released Thursday eliminates the “duration of status” framework that for decades has allowed foreign students to remain in the country as long as they maintain a full course of study. F-1 students would have to apply to renew their status with DHS after the four-year admission period is up.”

• NPR highlights debates about the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural work. (see also AMBs 6/22/26 and 6/8/26)

Migrants in Transit

🌎 Regional

• A paper at Journal on Migration and Human Security leveraging IOM surveys of over 40,000 migrants in transit through Costa Rica between 2021 and 2025 finds that “after Trump’s inauguration, migrant intentions to enter the US significantly subsided, along with northbound trajectories more broadly. However, migrants traveling with children and migrants moving for economic reasons were less deterred than others.”

🇨🇱 Chile

• 911 Venezuelan migrants have voluntarily left Chile following their home country’s dual, devastating earthquakes late last month. (El Pitazo; see AMB 7/6/26)

🇧🇷 Brazil

• Folha (1, 2) highlights Cuban migrants to Brazil.

🇨🇦 Canada

• “The federal government will not accept any new applications this year from people who want to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada as permanent residents under a program meant to promote family reunification,” reports CBC, noting an effort to reduce backlogs.

Borders and Enforcement

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

• The Dominican Republic plans to “modernize entry and exit controls” with biometrics, reports Diario Libre, noting the influence of the UAE on such efforts.

🇺🇸 United States

• “Trump Blasts ‘Sanctuary’ States, but Many Still Aid Deportations: A New York Times review of 18 states targeted by the Trump administration for their “sanctuary” policies found that all cooperate significantly with immigration authorities in cases involving violent crimes.” (New York Times)

• Along the Rio Grande, “Hundreds of massive orange buoys staged for a controversial DHS floating barrier project broke free near Eagle Pass and are now drifting toward Laredo, threatening bridges, commerce, drinking water supplies and downstream communities,” reports The Border Chronicle.

Share

Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.

Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.

Subscribe now

Table of Contents

1. Integration and Development

2. Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

3. Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

4. Borders and Enforcement

5. More on Migration

Integration and Development

🇨🇴 Colombia

• Following the devastating dual earthquakes last month in Venezuela (see last week’s AMB and below), Ronal Rodríguez writes at El Espectador that Colombia should renew its focus on regularization and welcoming Venezuelan migrants: “Venezuelans building their lives in Colombia now want to bring their elderly relatives—parents and grandparents—who remained in Venezuela because that’s where they owned property. However, the complex situation in their neighboring country is forcing family reunification on this side of the border. Colombia will once again face migration flows from Venezuela, albeit in smaller numbers, but with new demands.”

• Sandra Borda notes on Twitter that president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s incoming foreign minister has retweeted a post describing migrants as “invaders” and migration as “invasion.” (relatedly, see AMB 6/29/26 about questions over the incoming administration’s approach)

🇬🇹 Guatemala

• “Guatemala has taken a significant step toward strengthening the labor inclusion of refugees, asylum-seekers, and other foreign nationals through the modernization of the Platform for Work Permits for Foreign Nationals (PEX), a tool developed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MINTRAB) with technical support from the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) and funding from the Government of Spain. The new version of the platform modernizes and streamlines the application process for special work permits, allowing procedures to be completed more quickly, easily, and accessible, including from mobile devices.” (press release)

🇺🇸 United States

• “The Trump administration deleted the requirement that the government process asylum seekers’ initial work permits within 30 days, allowing immigrants to legally work for U.S. employers while their asylum applications are pending,” reports Politico, noting a pending lawsuit.

Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

🌎Regional

• As Haiti struggles with 1.5 million internally displaced amid rampant violence and insecurity, the country struggles to respond to nationals deported from neighboring Caribbean countries or the US: “Many have been unable to return to their homes: Roads are blocked, or their neighborhoods have been overrun by armed groups or destroyed. Some have been kidnapped or killed.” (Washington Post)

🇻🇪 Venezuela

• “Hundreds of people displaced by Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes are sharing extremely limited toilets in informal camps, while others are risking returning to damaged homes to use bathrooms despite fears the buildings could collapse… Thousands of people sheltering in tents for the past 12 days are without regular access to safe drinking water, running water and toilets, putting them at risk of skin infections, diarrhea and gastrointestinal illnesses, with children particularly vulnerable. Women and girls are having to manage their periods without privacy, clean water and sanitary products,” warns Save the Children. (see last week’s AMB)

  • “The Venezuelan government says that 17,907 people were left homeless after the earthquakes and that 16,891 are in 87 camps,” notes EFE.

🇧🇷 Brazil

• Brazil has established a National Humanitarian Reception Program through Community Sponsorship, formalizing previous practices for reception of those on humanitarian visas. “By the end of 2025, five civil society organizations had been accredited by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) to participate in the initiative. Together, they provided approximately 1,320 places for program beneficiaries. Of this total, 402 people had already arrived in Brazil and been welcomed in more than 30 municipalities across eight states,” per a press release available at Noticia In Foco. (see AMB 1/19/26)

• Among migrant women in Brazil, “most maternal deaths were caused by hypertensive obstetric diseases among pregnant women, which are generally related to difficulties in accessing or receiving prenatal care. Furthermore, researchers pointed out that the prevalence of maternal deaths among Haitian and Venezuelan migrants is also due to difficulties arising from forced displacement induced by conflicts in their countries of origin, which cause disruptions in access to health services and psychological stress that affect the health of pregnant and postpartum women,” reports MigraMundo.

🇭🇳 Honduras

• “While Honduras has quintupled the number of people in need of protection abroad in the last ten years, asylum applications from foreigners in the Central American country have quadrupled in the last year,” reaching 716 new asylum applications in 2025, reports Proceso.

🇺🇸 United States

• “The killing of a Mexican man living in the United States by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop in Houston has become the latest fatal encounter as the Trump administration continues its mass deportation campaign,” reports New York Times, noting that—as in other cases—“witnesses have disputed the authorities’ account.” (see also Migrant Insider)

  • Multiple witnesses were subsequently detained by ICE and “are under pressure from immigration officials to agree to self-deport,” reports TNR.

  • The City of Houston “said they would begin their own investigation of the federal government’s actions,” per New York Times.

  • “Mexico is seeking a criminal investigation in the United States related to the deaths of 17 Mexicans in immigration operations during President Donald Trump’s second term,” reports CNN, noting, “14 were in ICE custody and three died in operations carried out by the agency.”

• “The Trump administration has gutted policies that gave immigrant minors access to legal counsel and relief from deportation while they applied to stay in the U.S… Immigration courts have issued more than 10,000 removal and voluntary departure orders each month for immigrant minors — nearly four times the rate as Trump’s last term,” reports ProPublica.

  • Meanwhile, “The Trump administration plans to open a 528-bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children next to an airport hub, positioning itself to speed up deportations,” notes AP.

  • “Among children whose removal cases have been completed, 7 percent of those with a lawyer obtained some form of legal relief that let them stay in the country. Among children without a lawyer, it was less than 1 percent. That’s not a modest disparity. It’s close to the difference between a system that occasionally works for the people caught inside it and one that functionally doesn’t, and the entire gap comes down to whether a child, often a very young one, facing a trained government attorney completely alone, happened to have someone in the room who knew how to make their case,” notes Austin Kocher at his Substack, citing The Independent.

• “A lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that the Trump administration’s immigration agencies have been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating national immigration regulations and endangering countless Iranians,” reports AP.

• “Midway through the year, with over 30 state legislatures adjourned, emerging trends show how some states are taking up policies to protect immigrant communities. Having seen nearly 18 months of the second Trump administration’s immigration agenda, many state lawmakers have responded by passing innovative policies that build upon a foundation of best practices, such as addressing data privacy and protection, expanding access to immigration legal services, and placing guardrails on collaboration with federal immigration enforcement.” (American Immigration Council)

Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

🌎 Regional

• “Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley says her country has had a positive experience as one of the first four CARICOM member states to start full free movement last October. She revealed that Grenada has now officially said it wants to join, and Saint Lucia has also shown interest,” reports St. Lucia Times. (see last week’s AMB)

• The European Union wrote to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia; asking that the five Caribbean countries phase out their Citizenship by Investment Programs. “Brussels grounded its demand in the EU’s revised visa suspension mechanism, which entered into force on December 30, 2025,” reports IMI.

  • The five Caribbean countries met, submitting a joint response to the EU that calls for alternative sources of economic revenue if CBI were to end and “contests the terms of a transition, not the premise of one,” per IMI.

• The Dominican Republic hosted the International Dialogue on Social Policies, Resilience and Social Cohesion in Contexts of Vulnerability and Return Migration, organized by SICA. (El Nuevo Diario)

• A paper at International Migration introduces a dataset on free movement regimes globally, with a particular focus on analyzing such regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional

• The US deported a third country national to Palau, the first such flight to the Pacific archipelago. The country “agreed in December to resettle up to 75 deportees in exchange for $7.5 million,” per France24. Although the third country deportees are meant to settle in Palau, this individual reportedly chose not to remain after just two weeks.

• AFP highlights the coercive and quid pro quo-based efforts of the Trump administration to arrange third country deportation deals with African countries.

• “More than 500 Jamaicans protested a deal between their government and Washington that makes the island a way station for U.S. deportees bound elsewhere. The demonstration reflects growing unease over Jamaica’s addition to the expanding network of countries that have agreed to facilitate a signature Trump administration immigration policy: third-country deportations, reports the Washington Post.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)

🇻🇪🇪🇨 Ecuador and Venezuela

• Ecuador will resume consular services in Venezuela, to be provided at the Swiss embassy. “The consular office will also offer renewal of identity documents, civil registrations, and assistance to Ecuadorian citizens affected by the earthquakes, despite the break in diplomatic relations between the two countries since 2024,” reports El Pitazo.

🇲🇽🇵🇪 Peru and Mexico

• Mexico and Peru are set to restart diplomatic relations after controversy over political asylum last year, I note at the Latin America Daily Briefing. (see AMB 11/10/25)

🇨🇱🇵🇪 Peru and Chile

• Chilean president José Antonio Kast met virtually with Peruvian president-elect Keiko Fujimori, discussing migration, among other issues. (Diario UChile)

🇵🇭🇨🇦 Canada and Philippines

• Canada and the Philippines have signed a joint declaration of intent “ensuring fair and safer recruitment regulation for overseas Filipino workers,” including “ethical recruitment and licensing processes, as well as the establishment of a mutual recognition of worker credentials of migrant workers.” Canadian provinces have signed cooperation agreements with Asian countries in the past, but this is the first federal-level agreement, per Inquirer.

🇦🇼 Aruba

• An Aruba labor union leader has called on the government to develop an “Integrated Migration Plan” that regulates and plans not just for migrant admission but also integration. (EA News)

🇨🇴 Colombia

• Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “presented the Strategic Guidelines for Migration Governance 2026–2036, a roadmap built through a broad participatory process with civil society organizations, migrants, Colombians abroad, returning population, international organizations and academia, which will guide the country’s migration policy during the next decade.” (press release)

Borders and Enforcement

🇨🇱 Chile

• The Kast government has now deported 1,174 migrants across 7 flights, reports La Tercera. This reaches 92% of the total number of deportations last year and exceeds those conducted yearly between 2022-2024.

🇺🇸 United States

• “The Department of Homeland Security has purchased two privately-run detention facilities from the for-profit prison company CoreCivic, the company announced Monday, in a move that may serve to shield the facilities from state oversight… California law requires that privately held detention centers be subject to oversight by local and state authorities, as well as members of Congress. Now that DHS owns the buildings, finding out what’s going on inside of them is likely to become harder,” explains Mother Jones, noting that CoreCivic is still set to generate income from the immigration detention centers.

• “DHS has proposed nearly quintupling the fee for Form I-246, the application people under final removal orders file to request a stay of deportation — from $155 to $755, a 387% jump,” reports Migrant Insider.

More on Migration

🌎 Regional

• A new open access issue of Migraciones journal includes several papers related to Latin America.

Share

Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.

Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.

Subscribe now

Table of Contents

1. Integration and Development

2. Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

3. Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

4. Labor Migration

5. Migrants in Transit

6. Borders and Enforcement

Integration and Development

🌎Regional

• “Spain’s extraordinary regularization in 2026 could provide legal status to a record number of irregular migrants. Nearly 1.2 million people applied by the June 30 deadline, more than double the government’s original expectation of around 500,000, and two-thirds of applicants were from South or Central America. Yet even as Spain is advancing regularization, similar initiatives that were launched in Latin America to address the vast displacement from Venezuela that began in 2015 have ended or been closed to new entrants,” says MPI.

🇲🇽 Mexico

• Outgoing IOM chief in Mexico Dana Graber Ladek “warns about the need to expand, with temporary programs, the regularization options for migrants, since thousands of them remain in “limbo” even though they have been in Mexican territory for months, and even years, and seek to contribute to society,” reports La Jornada.

🇦🇷 Argentina

• Argentina’s National Electoral Chamber declared null an executive decree by the Milei administration “that sought to limit the granting of Argentine citizenship to foreigners and that would have placed this decision, previously in the hands of the judiciary, at the discretion of the Executive branch. The court warned the far-right leader that he had exceeded his authority and taken measures expressly prohibited by the Constitution,” per El País.

  • “The ruling, issued this Tuesday, overturned an emergency decree signed by Milei in May of last year… Milei’s Decree 366 aimed to tighten immigration controls, establish stricter requirements for the entry and stay in the country of foreigners with criminal records, and, among other things, limit free access to health and education services for people without permanent residency. The decree also stipulated that the federal courts would lose their authority to grant Argentine citizenship and that this power would be transferred to the National Directorate of Migration, an agency under the Executive branch.”

🇺🇸 United States

• “A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. By a 6-3 vote, the court struck down Trump’s order. A bare majority of five justices, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, held that the long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, makes a citizen of anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions,” reports AP.

Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

🌎Regional

• Following a pair of earthquakes last month in Venezuela (see last week’s AMB), “According to official estimates from Venezuela’s government, more than 15,000 people have been displaced nationwide… All figures released so far are likely underestimates,” reports Folha. “According to official figures, more than 17,300 people were left homeless, of whom 10,702 are currently housed in 79 temporary camps. Groups of those affected have been displaced from La Guaira to other regions that did not suffer considerable damage,” says EFE.

  • “More than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble,” reports AP. Following the tragedy, the Venezuelan government “restricted access to the facility for days” and the SEBIN agency allegedly made “threats to silence survivors,” according to Caracas Chronicles.

  • Following the earthquakes, Chile’s Kast government “has announced that it will authorize the legal departure from the country, for humanitarian reasons, of Venezuelan citizens residing in Chile whose passports have expired,” reports El País. However, this says nothing of said migrants’ ability to enter Peru or Bolivia if heading north by land.

🇨🇴 Colombia

• “Last month, Colombia passed a landmark law that formally recognizes displacement caused by climate change, environmental degradation, and natural disasters as a distinct legal and humanitarian category. It is the first law of its kind in Latin America and one of the first nationally binding frameworks of its kind anywhere in the world. This is a big deal,” write Liliana Gamboa and Kayly Ober for the Carnegie Endowment. (see AMB 6/15/26)

  • “Two features stand out. First, people don’t have to wait until they’ve already fled: They can be registered before, during, or after displacement. This makes the law anticipatory rather than purely reactive. Second, the registry includes a dedicated section for the collective lands of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, meant to capture their particular ties to territory and the distinct ways displacement affects them.”

  • “The law, while groundbreaking, faces an uphill battle. Its guarantees are promised “progressively” rather than immediately, which gives the state room to move slowly. And much of what will determine success has been left for later: the criteria defining who qualifies, the registry itself, and the national prevention policy. Each depends on money, coordination between national and local government, and political will.”

🇨🇱 Chile

• Following controversy over “missing” Haitian migrant children last month in Chile (see last week’s AMB), the Kast administration announced the adoption in May of “a new protocol for the entry of minors into the country when they were not accompanied by their parents,” explains InfoMigra; “in the case of family reunification applications, it will now be necessary to also attach the background information of the person who is transferring the child or adolescent, and specify where they will arrive and with whom they will be during the first months.”

  • “Although the most extreme speculations proved unfounded, ‘the emotional damage has already been done,’ said David Antoine, a father of three who emigrated to Chile from Haiti in 2014. Many Haitians were frightened when the police knocked on their doors looking for the missing children, said Antoine, who works as a human rights advocate.” (Bloomberg)

• Revista Común highlights family separations at Chile’s northern border: “Family separation as a technology of disincentivizing, controlling, and punishing migrant populations has intensified since Kast came to power; however, its use is not new. On the contrary, it has been a central element of migration and border control in Chile, particularly in the context of the surge in migration to the country since 2020.”

🇬🇹 Guatemala

• “Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo announced Friday the creation of a humanitarian mechanism to undertake, for the first time, the search for people who disappeared during the past internal armed conflict, as well as those who disappeared as a result of migration or for other reasons,” reports AP.

🇲🇽 Mexico

• A UNAM book examines internal displacement in Mexico.

🇺🇸 United States

• “A group of migrants seeking US asylum or visas is suing over a new Trump administration policy requiring them to wear tracking monitors as an alternative to detention, claiming the measure is causing unnecessary harm to people trying to remain in the country legally. As a result of the new rule, the number of released migrants wearing electronic ankle and wrist bracelets has surged from about 23,000 in late 2024 to almost 50,000 now,” reports Bloomberg, explaining, “Previously, devices were used only in special cases where escalated supervision was necessary.”

Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional

• “Antigua and Barbuda: Prime Minister Gaston Browne has said that recent U.S. visa restrictions were intended to pressure Antigua and Barbuda into accepting third-country nationals under a proposed resettlement agreement,” reports Writeups 24, noting ongoing negotiations. (see last week’s AMB, AMBs 2/2/26 and 12/29/25)

• Costa Rica has conducted a second deportation flight “under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that allows resources to be transferred to Costa Rica to help move people who are subject to deportation,” per Tico Times. 26 individuals were deported to Colombia and Ecuador.

🇧🇷 Brazil

• Brazil presented to the OECD Working Group on Migration the country’s advances in the development of the National Policy on Migration, Refugees and Statelessness, per a press release. Recent public consultations generated 431 proposals for consideration, reports MigraMundo.

Labor Migration

🇺🇸 United States

• “America’s immigrant tech workers are paying an uncertainty tax: A court struck down Donald Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee. But many foreign workers say years of shifting immigration rules have already pushed them to consider Canada, the U.K., and the Gulf.” (Rest of World)

Migrants in Transit

🌎Regional

• Barbados has received 776 migrants from Belize, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as part of the four countries’ full free movement regime within CARICOM. (CNW)

  • “Comissiong said there have been no reported issues with the initiative since its launch and indicated that regional stakeholders are expected to be brought together for a comprehensive review of the program in the coming months.”

Borders and Enforcement

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

• An INM report examines the Dominican Republic’s border with Haiti, enforcement efforts, and policy recommendations. Findings include 16 irregular entry channels along the border and that approximately 2,000 Haitian migrants cross daily at Pedernales to work, per Por La Línea.

🇺🇸 United States

• “Federal immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days, a major surge that has stemmed from a push within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrest rates,” reports New York Times, adding, “One of the officials said that it was unclear how long the pace could continue, but that ICE officials had been told that 2,000 arrests a day was the new standard for enforcement. The surge has occurred without the fanfare of highly visible operations last year, in which officials announced their intentions ahead of time to target cities.”

• “A new Mississippi law will authorize the state’s top law enforcement agency to compile a list of all immigrants illegally living in the state. What’s to be done with that information is a bit open-ended… The measure neither requires nor prohibits the database from being shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” reports AP.

🇵🇦 Panama

• “Panama has eliminated the visa requirement for nationals of the Dominican Republic traveling for tourism or business,” notes Fragomen.

Subscribe now

Share

Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.

Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.

Subscribe now

Table of Contents

1. Integration and Development

2. Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

3. Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

4. Labor Migration

5. Migrants in Transit

6. Borders and Enforcement

Integration and Development

🇨🇴 Colombia

• IDB highlights Colombian government efforts in recent years to promote inclusion and integration of nearly 3 million Venezuelan migrants: “Colombia has demonstrated how large‑scale migration can be managed as both a humanitarian responsibility and a public policy opportunity.”

  • Meanwhile, analyst William Gómez warned in an interview with Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias that new Colombian president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella may signal a restrictive migration policy turn, including deportations of irregular migrants. “Gómez stressed that it is still unclear whether the president-elect’s statements will translate into concrete actions or if they are part of a political campaign speech.” (for more, see the regional cooperation section below on US-Colombia cooperation)

🇲🇽 Mexico

• A CEPAL report examining return migration in Mexico finds that “Migrants returning to Mexico face precarious employment and discrimination, particularly women, which hinders their access to formal jobs,” according to La Jornada. (for more on returnee reintegration, see last week’s AMB)

Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights

🌎Regional

• UNHCR head Barham Salih at a press conference “stated on Monday that migrant transfer agreements must “guarantee the right to asylum” and “the principle of non-refoulement,” alluding to deportations by the United States to various African countries,” according to EFE. Such migrant transfer agreements have proliferated between the US and countries across the Americas, too. (see also US subsection and regional cooperation section below)

🇻🇪 Venezuela

• “Up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24th June,” according to IOM. At least 188 have died and thousands have been wounded as displacement becomes a major concern, per UNHCR.

🇪🇨 Ecuador

• The UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families published findings on Ecuador, among other countries. Comments include, “The Committee noted with concern that the October 2025 amendments to the Organic Law on Human Mobility permitted the detention and expedited deportation of migrants on ambiguous grounds. It was also concerned about tightened administrative sanctions that undermine due process, access to asylum and the prohibition on collective expulsions, including by allowing expedited deportation without prior judicial review.” (press release)

🇲🇽 Mexico

• El Salto highlights the stories of migrants living in the Vallejo encampment in Mexico City, noting government efforts to disband the community. Many are seeking asylum in Mexico: “Most of those living there wanted to seek protection in the United States through the CBP One program. When Trump took office in January 2025, that door closed overnight. That’s when they began the process with COMAR. Some families submitted their applications on January 31, 2025. Today, a year and four months later, they are still waiting for their eligibility interview.”

🇨🇱 Chile

• “The government of José Antonio Kast and the Investigative Police (PDI) reported on Tuesday that the 64 Haitian minors whom the Comptroller General’s Office had been unable to locate have been found… The children and teenagers have legal status and are under the care of a relative. ‘Most are enrolled in the education system and receiving healthcare,’” reports El País. (see last week’s AMB)

  • Unrelated to that group of children, two Haitian men were charged with migrant trafficking and money laundering; “According to the investigation, through the agencies Mundo Pam and Caneneen, the accused were dedicated to promoting and facilitating the entry into Chile of Haitian children, through unauthorized crossings and charging large sums of money to their parents and relatives,” reports La Tercera.

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

• Over 1,000 Dominicans signed a letter to the president calling for the repeal of a policy of immigration inspection in public hospitals, reports EFE, highlighting public health and protection concerns.

🇺🇸 United States

• The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can end TPS for 350,000 Haitian and more than 6,000 Syrian migrants living in the US, leaving them vulnerable to deportation. (CBS)

  • The majority ruling specifically stated that the law does not allow for judicial review in the case. “The case shows why a future Congress should systematically repeal laws that bar judicial review, at least within the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),” argues Cato’s David Bier on Substack.

  • Relatedly, Austin Kocher notes at his Substack that an estimated 103,000 Ukrainians are set to lose their TPS in October. (see AMB 6/1/26 for more on the nearly 1.3 million individuals from 17 countries reliant on TPS)

• “The Supreme Court said on Thursday that the Trump administration can turn away migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border by physically preventing them from crossing into the United States as they seek protection from persecution,” reports New York Times.

• Addressing concerns about third country deportations, a Georgetown Immigration Law Journal article “argues that immigration lawyers should use the administrative process to create a record that protects noncitizens against third country removals,” outlining potential paths of action.

• “How the Trump Administration Pushed Judges to Deport Children: The D.O.J. has fast-tracked immigration cases for unaccompanied minors and fired judges who appear not to comply.” (The New Yorker)

• “UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday urged prompt action to prevent further loss of life in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and called for independent investigations into all deaths under ICE custody.” (press release)

  • A Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights report examines deaths in ICE custody.

  • “ICE Reports 20th Detained Death of 2026, 63-year-old Felix Alcorta-Rodriguez from Mexico” (Austin Kocher’s Substack)

  • Texas Observer looks at deaths in transit to the US, too, noting a case last month of seven migrants dying likely of heat stroke while hitching a ride on a cargo container en route to San Antonio.

• WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Border Update, noting, “Border Patrol apprehended 9,998 people at the U.S.-Mexico border in May, the largest monthly total of the Trump administration, though still a historically low number. Increases since January probably owe to spring weather.”

🇨🇦 Canada

• In response to concerns surrounding a recent Ebola outbreak, “Many individuals from Uganda who had faced imminent removal from Canada will be given a second chance at obtaining protected person status,” explains CIC News.

• “The Immigration Department is facing almost 300 court challenges to its decision to deny tens of thousands of asylum claimants the right to have their case heard at Canada’s independent immigration and refugee tribunal… The government is facing the spate of judicial review applications after it changed asylum rules in March, putting tens of thousands of asylum claimants on a fast track to deportation,” reports The Globe and Mail. (see AMB 4/13/26)

Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation

🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional

• “The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has agreed to establish a broad-based, high-level advisory team to guide negotiations with the United States over requests for member states to accept a limited number of non-criminal third-country nationals and refugees,” reports CNW, noting that Antigua and Barbuda has rejected a proposal to accept 120 deportees, instead stating willingness to accept 10 annually.

  • The Jamaican government is receiving criticism over potential transfers from the opposition, who are questioning the lack of humanitarian reception for Haitian maritime arrivals, by contrast. 28 Haitian migrants, including 3 children, arrived by boat last week and were subsequently deported. (Observer, Radio Jamaica News)

• Colombian president-elect Abelardo De La Espriella met with US Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, discussing migration, among other topics. “In his message, the senator stated that one of the points they addressed was the asylum applications from Colombians who claimed to be in danger in their country of origin. According to Moreno, they agree that these individuals should return to Colombia,” reports RCN. (see last week’s AMB on how the Trump administration detained a critic of De La Espriella)

• US and El Salvador officials met to discuss migration, among other topics. (El Mundo)

• El País examines US-Mexico relations and migration cooperation under the Biden and AMLO administrations, based on former US ambassador Ken Salazar’s new memoir. Salazar recounts AMLO wanting greater US support on infrastructure projects in exchange for greater migration (enforcement) cooperation.

🇧🇴🇧🇷 Brazil and Bolivia

• Officials from Brazil’s Acre state, bordering Bolivia, met with Bolivian officials to discuss migration, including in relation to humanitarian reception, social assistance, and protection. (press release)

🇨🇺🇺🇾 Uruguay and Cuba

• Uruguayan and Cuban officials met to discuss migration and bilateral cooperation. (press release)

Labor Migration

🌎Regional

• EFE highlights Guatemalan and Honduran temporary labor migration to work in Spain’s agricultural sector, noting an expansion in the program between 2025 and 2026, near-universal return rates, high levels of repeat participants, and high levels of remittance sending.

🇰🇳 St. Kitts and Nevis

• “About 47 Ghanaian health professionals have been deployed to Saint Kitts and Nevis under the government’s Health Workforce Migration Initiative, a programme designed to provide temporary overseas employment opportunities,” says Joy Online, noting, “the professionals will serve in Saint Kitts and Nevis on two to three-year contracts, after which they are expected to return to Ghana to continue their service within the country’s health sector.”

🇸🇻🇨🇦 Canada and El Salvador

• Nearly 100 Salvadorans are en route to work in Canada as temporary labor migrants, the largest cohort sent as of yet as part of El Salvador’s Labor Migration Program. (Diario La Huella, ElSalvador)

🇭🇹🇩🇴 Dominican Republic and Haiti

• A government survey reveals that over two-thirds of workers in the Dominican construction sector are of Haitian origin. (CDN)

Migrants in Transit

🌎Regional

• A homemade boat holding 30 Cuban migrants was intercepted between Cuba and Mexico. “The wooden vessel was sinking and had no fuel or water on board,” notes Miami Herald.

Borders and Enforcement

🇨🇱 Chile

• As Chile sets up physical barriers along its border with Peru, some Peruvian commentators express concern that this will simply re-route, not stop, migration—and in potentially less predictable ways. (BioBioChile)

🇺🇸 United States

• “A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume using a fast-track deportation process throughout the country that is typically reserved for people apprehended shortly after crossing the southern border,” reports New York Times, explaining that expedited removal “allows officials to deport people who have been in the country for less than two years without hearings in immigration courts.” However, the judge writing for the majority asserted that DHS is not required to tell migrants that they can avoid expedited removal if they have lived in the US for 2+ years, meaning that in practice the policy may be used more expansively.

• “Even though Congress theoretically has many ways to oversee agencies, in practice over the last two decades it has used the budget as its main lever for controlling ICE… It was imperfect and imprecise, but it was a tool Congress could use to keep the agency in check. Now that, too, is gone. Twice in the past year, Congress has funded ICE not through the annual appropriations process but through budget reconciliation, putting the agency beyond its reach… With a seemingly bottomless budget, new contracting mechanisms, and no public reporting requirements, ICE now operates largely out of public view. We have little idea what the agency is actually doing with the money Congress provides,” explains former ICE official Claire Trickler-McNulty at Securing America’s Promise.

• “A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department that accused four New Jersey cities of having “sanctuary” policies that shield undocumented immigrants from federal immigration enforcement,” reports New York Times.