Americas Migration Brief - April 14, 2025
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
An IDB report analyzes media coverage on migration across Latin America and the Caribbean from 2017 to 2024, finding that “only 10% of news stories use alarmist and exaggerated language, most frequently regarding security and migration policy issues. Furthermore, while headlines evoke negative sentiments, the overall tone tends to be more neutral.”
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
“Venezuelan refugees in Trinidad and Tobago who have had permits to work and live here legally since 2019 have been waiting for the 2025 (work permit) stickers for four months… The delay in delivering these stickers with the new expiration date has put hundreds of Venezuelans in a difficult situation. Many of them have lost their jobs because their cards are not updated,” reports Newsday.
🇨🇱 Chile
Despite claims from some political actors, “the director of the National Migration Service, Luis Eduardo Thayer, denied a massive and irregular influx of Haitians into Chile and clarified that it is a family reunification process, stipulated by law and subject to strict requirements,” reports BioBioChile.
La Izquierda Diario denounces xenophobic discourse against Haitian migrants.
🇲🇽 Mexico
The Haitian Times highlights the decline of “Little Haiti” in Mexico City, as many have moved on to either the US or northern Mexico.
🇦🇷 Argentina
An elderly Peruvian woman in Buenos Aires was the victim of discriminatory targeting and language as she sold wares on the street, leading to public controversy and a statement from the Peruvian ministry of foreign affairs denouncing xenophobia. (Infobae)
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
Amnesty International is “calling on Mexico and Jamaica, as countries of origin, to protect their migrant workers from discrimination and labour exploitation, by renegotiating bilateral labour mobility agreements that do not allow workers to freely choose and change employers.”
AULA Blog highlights how climate change and environmental disasters push people to migrate, noting not just economic but also social loss and damage.
🇧🇷 Brazil
A Senegalese immigrant was shot and killed by Brazilian military police attempting to confiscate merchandise in São Paulo’s Brás neighborhood. The ensuing protests against police violence and racism were dispersed with tear gas. (Agência Brasil, Terra)
Some are calling for greater clarity from the Brazilian government about the present and future of humanitarian visa policies, particularly considering recent changes to tie access to the capacity for reception by civil society, reports MigraMundo. (see AMB 3/31/25)
🇭🇹 Haiti
“This year more than 78,500 people, including over 40,000 children, have been displaced, more than double the number displaced in the first three months of 2024,” says Save the Children.
🇯🇲 Jamaica
“The United Nations Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families has called on Jamaica to provide greater clarity on its treatment of undocumented migrants, particularly those arriving by boat from neighboring countries such as Cuba,” reports CNW.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Criminal groups using high-caliber weapons and explosive devices launched from drones are part of the actions that have caused the displacement of people in the community of El Alcalde, located in the municipality of Apatzingán, Michoacán,” reports Infobae.
🇪🇨 Ecuador
The Immigration Lab highlights the impact of increasing violence on displacement and emigration of Ecuadorians.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
“Since the beginning of 2025, there has been an increase in cases of Nicaraguans being denied entry without explanation after traveling abroad. Others never received the passport they requested. Authorities have officially denationalized more than 450 people, but are now enforcing de facto statelessness, according to the latest report by a UN Group of Experts.” (France24)
🇦🇷 Argentina
“In recent years, an increasing number of LGBTQ Russians who fled hostility at home have found a safe haven Argentina, where “many queer Russian immigrants expressed surprise at the extent to which members of the LGBTQ community in Argentina could openly express themselves,” reports the Buenos Aires Herald,” explains Jordana Timerman at Latin America Daily Briefing.
🇺🇸 United States
As the Trump administration has defied court orders on continuing refugee resettlement, “a federal court granted a motion to enforce its prior orders and once again reiterated that the U.S. government must restore processing and admissions, including the funding necessary for both, for individuals USCIS conditionally approved as refugees prior to January 20,” per IRAP. (see also HIAS)
A federal judge is blocking the Trump administration’s move to end humanitarian parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. (AP)
“If the judge’s ruling stands, it means that CHNV parolees will still need to find alternate avenues to stay in the US regularly–but their status will not be revoked on April 24, rather, it will terminate two years after they were granted parole,” explains CEDA’s US-Cuba News Brief.
Despite the pause on the Trump administration’s attempts to end TPS for Venezuelans (see last week’s AMB), Venezuelans with TPS “are being unlawfully arrested by federal authorities at their homes, in their cars, at regular immigration check-ins and on the streets, attorneys say,” notes The Guardian.
More nationalities’ TPS is getting slashed: “The Trump administration will end temporary protections for more than 10,000 people from Afghanistan and Cameroon, putting them on track for deportation in May and June,” reports New York Times.
In an effort to get at those with now-cancelled (or currently debated in court) legal protections, the Trump administration “is taking drastic steps to pressure some of those immigrants and others who had legal status to ‘self-deport’ by effectively canceling the Social Security numbers they had lawfully obtained,” reports The New York Times.
A group is suing ICE for unlawful arrests of US citizens as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign—an increasingly frequent occurrence. (Washington Post)
“Over Eighty Universities File Amicus Brief in Case Challenging Trump's Speech-Based Deportations of Non-citizen Students” (Reason)
“The Trump administration is expanding its campaign against international students to target not just those active in pro-Palestine advocacy, but also students entirely uninvolved in protests and campus activism… In some cases, the government has gone after students with minor infractions or misdemeanors on their record, or, for others, no criminal history at all,” reports The Intercept, noting a trend in targeting students from Muslim-majority countries, as well as Asia and Africa.
The Trump administration is also moving to monitor social media activity for evidence to justify deportations and denying immigration benefit requests. (NPR)
“As of April 12, over 170 colleges and universities have identified 950-plus international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department.” InsideHigherEd maps out the cases.
An AILA policy brief “explains how student visas differ from other nonimmigrant visa types, explores the legal pathways to revoking and terminating a student visa, and explains the due process protections that are available.”
“The Impact of U.S. Immigration and Border Externalization Policies on Haitian and Other Black Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Migrants” (Haiti Justice Partnership)
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, noting, “The Supreme Court made two rulings related to the Trump administration’s practice of sending migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador. The first requires that people subjected to rapid expulsion under the Alien Enemies Act have a reasonable chance to defend themselves. The second upholds, though softens, a lower-court judge’s requirement that the administration seek the release and return of a wrongfully expelled Salvadoran man,” Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Trump administration is claiming “that it is not required to engage El Salvador’s government in efforts to facilitate the return,” per Washington Post. Officials have insisted that they “made the right decision,” reports HuffPost.
Despite claims by the Trump administration, about 90% of the mostly Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador through the Alien Enemies Act had no US criminal record, reports Bloomberg.
“Under international law, an enforced disappearance occurs when authorities deprive a person of their liberty and then refuse to disclose that person’s fate or whereabouts. This violation is especially serious because it places people outside the protection of the law, making further abuses likely,” says Human Rights Watch, accusing the US and Salvadoran governments of the practice. (see also EFE on Cristosal comments)
🇨🇦 Canada
The number of people entering Canada’s Québec province from the US and seeking asylum is on the rise, reports CBC, noting that many are Haitians who are set to lose TPS in the US. (see also Bloomberg)
Venezuelans, too, are looking to cross into Canada from the US in order to seek asylum, per The Globe and Mail.
“It’s not acceptable for the United States to send us all their asylum seekers,” said Canadian prime minister Mark Carney. (The Gazette)
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“CARICOM Ministers of Labour have agreed to adopt a harmonised and sustained approach to key labour issues affecting the free movement of people within the region,” reports CNW.
As the new co-chairs of the Global Compact for Migration Champion Countries Initiative, “Canada and Ecuador must lead with clarity, not caution—and must ground their leadership in action, not optics. A key test of their leadership will be how they mobilize support for two critical GCM mechanisms: the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MMPTF) and the Capacity Building Mechanism,” says CEDA.
The location of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, set to be hosted by Colombia this June, has been abruptly moved from Barranquilla to Riohacha, reports Infobae.
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
Most of the leaders at the CELAC summit held in Honduras expressed criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, reports EFE.
“Despite the ambitions of unity voiced at the CELAC summit, the region is far from developing a unified response to one of its biggest challenges: Trump. When it comes to U.S. deportation requests, trade restrictions, or even the threat of territorial takeover, Latin American countries have mostly approached diplomacy with the United States bilaterally rather than as a bloc,” writes Catherine Osborn at Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.
“Sheinbaum and Lula met on the sidelines of the CELAC meeting and strategized how to respond Trump’s tariffs and escalating deportations, among other issues, reports the Associated Press.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
“Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and a team of defense contractors are pitching the White House on a plan to vastly expand deportations to El Salvador — transporting thousands of immigrants from U.S. holding facilities to a sprawling maximum security prison in Central America,” reports Politico, noting that they “would attempt to avoid legal challenges by designating part of the prison — which has drawn accusations of violence and overcrowding from human rights groups — as American territory.”
La Nación was given a brief peek into the situation of migrants from across the world deported by the US to Costa Rica, noting a generalized lack of hope. (see last week’s AMB on the group of Chinese migrants that are now seeking asylum in Costa Rica)
The US travel ban for South Sudanese (see last week’s AMB) is allegedly because South Sudan did not accept the deportation from the US of an individual they assert to be Congolese, reports AP. South Sudan ultimately accepted the individual in an attempt to defuse tensions, but the US has indicated no plans to undo the new policy, per Semafor.
“The Peruvian government announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement with the United States to implement an electronic procedure that will allow for the "rapid return" of Peruvian citizens deported from U.S. territory,” reports EFE.
🇷🇺🇪🇨 Ecuador and Russia
Ecuadorian and Russian officials assert different stories about the alleged rejection of Russian nationals attempting to enter Ecuador. (EFE)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“National Migration Council has not met in over two and a half years” (Dominican Today)
Labor Migration
🌎 Regional
The Spanish regional government of Galicia has signed agreements with Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Paraguay to facilitate labor migration to the region. (EFE)
🇺🇸 United States
Antonio Garza and Caitlyn Yates highlight at Dallas Morning News the importance of immigrants for food security in the US, writing, “the H-2A visa should be expanded beyond the picking or harvesting of produce alone to include the meatpacking and dairy farming professions. Historically, positions in these industries were not eligible for H-2A workers because they were not considered seasonal. However, as the meatpacking and dairy industries have the highest rates of undocumented workers in the United States, these sectors are also the most at risk for labor shortages as deportations continue.”
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
Francisco Rodriguez and co-authors at CEPR contest recent findings by Dany Bahar and Ricardo Hausmann at CGD questioning the established empirical relationship between sanctions, economic shocks, and emigration; noting concerns surrounding variable and model specification choices. (see also Rodriguez on Twitter)
As I note on LinkedIn, “While sanctions are not remotely the root cause of Venezuelan migration (a repressive, kleptocratic dictatorship is), the evidence is clear that sanctions have contributed to the economic conditions that have helped push millions of Venezuelans to emigrate.”
For more on the debate, including the political implications, I also recommend checking out Nicolás Idrobo’s job market paper.
An R4V movements report for the fourth quarter of 2024 finds that “Brazil remained the country in South America with the largest overall positive migratory balance in 2024, recording two entries for every departure,” whereas countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru recorded net Venezuelan departures in the fourth quarter.
Doctors Without Borders recounts the journey of one Congolese family from Africa to Brazil to Mexico, highlighting the unique challenges of extracontinental migration.
Denisse Delgado and María José Espinosa write for American University about recent Cuban migration trends, noting, “Emigration from the island reproduces longstanding patterns of inequality. Poorer families often lack the resources needed to cover the high costs of emigration, such as plane tickets to Nicaragua or Guyana, embassy fees, and payments to human traffickers (Delgado, 2024). Often, families are forced to sell off lifelong assets or take on substantial debts, often from loan sharks, to finance their migration attempts.”
DW explores passport mobility and access to free movement for Latin America and the Caribbean.
🇺🇸 United States
“Recent immigration brought a population rebound to America’s major metro areas, new census data show” (Brookings)
Borders and Enforcement
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Dominican officials have set up a military camp by Punta Cana to target irregular Haitian migrants—a large portion of the tourism sector’s workforce. (CDN; see last week’s AMB on newly announced enforcement efforts)
A group of Cubans were apprehended attempting to irregularly enter the Dominican Republic from Haiti. (CiberCuba)
🇧🇷 Brazil
After three previous postponements, Brazil reinstated visa requirements for Canada, the US, and Australia, based on the country’s traditional model of reciprocity—all three countries require visas for Brazilian nationals to visit. (MigraMundo)
🇺🇸 United States
ICE has “awarded a new contract worth up to $3.8 billion to Deployed Resources to operate a migrant detention camp on Fort Bliss. It is the largest contract the company has received and the first time ICE is moving ahead with plans to detain thousands of people arrested in the U.S. on military bases in tents before they are deported,” reports ProPublica, noting a history of millions of dollars wasted on unused services from contracts with the company. “ICE's entire 2024 detention budget was $3.43 billion,” notes Adam Isacson on Twitter.
“Trump Administration Aims to Spend $45 Billion to Expand Immigrant Detention” (New York Times)
“President Donald Trump on late Friday issued a new memorandum authorizing the U.S. military to take control of parts of a federal strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border known as the Roosevelt Reservation, giving the Department of Defense new powers to operate directly on the international line,” reports The Border Chronicle, noting concerns that this may be used for a workaround to bypass a law prohibiting the military from direct immigration law enforcement.
“The Trump administration has begun revoking the legal status of [more than 900,000] migrants who entered the U.S. under a Biden administration process powered by a smartphone app formerly known as CBP One, instructing them to leave the country immediately or face arrest and deportation,” reports CBS.
“The Trump administration plans to fine migrants under deportation orders up to $998 a day if they fail to leave the United States and to seize their property if they do not pay,” reports Reuters.
“Several top Internal Revenue Service officials, including the acting commissioner, are preparing to quit after the Trump administration pushed the agency to use its protected tax records to help homeland security officials deport immigrants,” reports New York Times. (see AMB 3/24/25)
The Border Chronicle reports from the Border Security Expo: “DHS secretary Kristi Noem explaining what's to come in an address to border industry representatives: “We can go in, take you out of your home, and deport you out of this country.””
“Google Is Helping the Trump Administration Deploy AI Along the Mexican Border” (The Intercept)
“Right now, the government is burning thousands of federal law enforcement hours on operations that privilege political objectives over public safety, attacking constitutional protections like due process and free speech as they do. If this administration doesn’t correct course, it will lock the country into a future of weaker enforcement, lowered trust in public safety officials and greater risk to Americans’ collective safety,” writes former ICE chief of staff Jason Houser in a New York Times op-ed.
🇵🇲 St. Pierre and Miquelon
“French presidential hopeful Laurent Wauquiez has caused an outcry in France, including within his own conservative camp, for suggesting sending migrants awaiting deportation to the remote island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off Canada's coast,” reports Reuters.