Americas Migration Brief - August 25, 2025
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇵🇪 Peru
Beginning September 15th, Peru “will begin activities to formalize the immigration status of foreign citizens who entered Peru legally but have overstayed their stay (due to having expired PTP or CPP) or residence (due to having an expired Alien Registration Card).” Nearly 500,000 migrants in an irregular status may be eligible to partake in this regularization process, although those who entered the country irregularly will not have access. (news release; see AMB 7/28/25 for earlier reporting on potential regularization)
The measure is accompanied by greater immigration enforcement activities, including dedicating greater funding to enforcement capacity; Peru’s migration agency aims “to close the year with more than 4,330 verification and inspection operations, which will be carried out in coordination with the Peruvian National Police and other institutions.”
Peru has increased the number of years of required residence to be able to apply for citizenship, from 2 to now 5 years. Applicants must also now show proof of at least US$ 15,000 annual income and formal taxation, reports EFE.
🇨🇱 Chile
A group of 10 think tanks and organizations convened by the Centro de Políticas Migratorias published a report outlining more than 30 concrete recommendations for migration policy in Chile with a view towards medium- and long-term benefits for the country. Recommendations are organized around 5 key areas: immigration institutions, public security and border control, regular migration, integration and coexistence, and migration as a driver of development.
“Conservative presidential candidate José Antonio Kast is in the lead ahead of the first-round election on November 16… While his hardline stances may have alienated voters before, Kast’s positions are resonating today among more Chileans who are increasingly concerned about crime and migration,” explains Americas Quarterly, profiling candidates on the issues and noting, “Kast has promised to close borders and construct walls, ditches, and perimeter fences. Jara has proposed a regularization process for immigrants and stated that when courts determine that migrants have come to Chile to commit crimes, they would be sent back to their countries.”
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
A “community lab” meeting in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province brought together a wide variety of stakeholders to discuss the situation of migrants in the country. “The main topics of discussion were the violation of migrant labor rights in the province of Guanacaste and the limitations on migrant women's access to sexual and reproductive health care,” per Confidencial.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🇬🇹 Guatemala
“Guatemala has granted humanitarian stay permits to 161 Mexicans, including 69 children, who sought refuge in a border village after fleeing drug violence in their country,” reports AFP. (see last week’s AMB)
🇸🇻 El Salvador
“About 80 human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and environmentalists have left El Salvador in the last four months, according to an AFP tally, fleeing what they call ‘escalating repression’ and the risk of imprisonment.” (AFP)
Transnational repression is a problem, too, highlighting the importance of protection: “An Insight Crime investigation found that “the erosion of procedural guarantees in El Salvador has opened the door to the persecution of Salvadorans — even beyond the country’s borders — under false or manipulated charges. This persecution has also recently targeted human rights defenders, political opponents, and journalists seeking exile.”” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
The head of Costa Rica’s intelligence agency admitted that the country does not have the capacity to receive reports and provide direct protection services for refugees in the country that face transnational repression and threats from other nations, most principally relevant for Nicaraguan political dissidents and exiles. (Artículo66)
🇨🇴 Colombia
Nearly 400,000 Colombians sought asylum abroad in 2024, according to a UNHCR report on displacement, exile, and life abroad for Colombian asylum seekers and refugees. (see also El Colombiano)
🇺🇸 United States
“A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary deportation protections [TPS] for more than 60,000 people from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal — at least for now,” reports CBS.
A Salvadoran immigrant died in ICE custody, reports Migrant Insider, adding, “The case underscores long-running concerns over secrecy, accountability, and medical care in the nation’s network of privately run immigration detention centers. Advocates warn it may be a grim sign of more fatalities to come.”
“During a migration sweep at a Home Depot in Monrovia, in Southern California, a man fleeing ICE officials was killed by passing traffic on the 210 Freeway… Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday criticized LA police for excessive force and “deliberate brutality” against ICE protesters,” reports the new Pirate Wire Services ICE Roundup newsletter.
🇨🇦 Canada
“More Americans applied for refugee status in Canada in the first half of 2025 than in all of 2024, and more than in any full year since 2019,” reports Reuters. However, “Their share of total refugee claims - 245 of about 55,000 - is small and Canada's acceptance of U.S. refugee claims has historically been low.”
“Some Sudanese Canadians are calling out Ottawa for rejecting their applications to privately sponsor loved ones fleeing conflict without making it clear what's missing in their paperwork or how they can fix any errors,” notes CBC.
Civil society remains concerned about the impact of the proposed “Bill C-2” in Canada on access to protection, particularly for political dissidents in exile, reports The Globe and Mail. The bill remains under consideration in parliament.
Paying subscribers have access to the full archive of AMB Weekly Briefs. Check out AMB 6/23/25 and AMB 6/9/25 for more on Bill C-2.
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
59 Venezuelan migrants were returned to Venezuela from other South American countries via Bolivia, given a lack of diplomatic relations between the Maduro government and regional neighbors. Efecto Cocuyo adds, “It is unknown how long these flights will last, especially since a new government will take office in Bolivia in November, where for the first time in nearly 20 years, leftist forces will leave power.”
“Immigration authorities, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama met in Panama City to participate in the Trinational Training on Border Management and Transnational Cooperation on Trafficking in Persons, Smuggling of Migrants, and the Reduction of Related Crimes,” says IOM.
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
The Trump administration has reached new third country deportation deals with Uganda and Honduras. Uganda has indicated that it “prefers” to accept deportees from other African countries, whereas Honduras has agreed to receive Spanish-speaking Latin Americans, specifically, notes CBS, highlighting, “Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light to deport migrants to third countries with a minimal degree of notice and due process.”
“Lawyers for Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was wrongfully expelled to El Salvador in March and then returned in June, accused the Trump administration on Saturday of trying to “coerce” him to plead guilty in his criminal case by threatening to re-deport him “halfway across the world” to Uganda,” reports The New York Times. The Trump administration had also tried to set up a deal to send Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica.
“A group of NGOs is challenging Eswatini’s acceptance of five people deported by the US, arguing the deal was unconstitutional and violated the imprisoned men’s human rights… The high court case was postponed to 25 September and may be referred to the constitutional court by the high court judges,” reports The Guardian. (see AMB 7/28/25)
Labor Migration
🇧🇧 Barbados
Barbados is turning to migration to help fill labor gaps and demographic slowdown to remain competitive in the global economy. The recently introduced Immigration Bill and Citizenship Bill “aim to modernise outdated systems, create clearer pathways to permanent residency and citizenship, and use immigration as a tool to boost long-term prosperity,” reports Observer. For example, “The old “Immigrant Status” is being scrapped, replaced with a streamlined permanent residency framework that values age, education, skills, and investment. New flexible permits allow residency or residency with work rights while applications are processed.” (see also Barbados Today)
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
10 years after the beginning of exodus from Venezuela to Colombia and other neighboring countries, the Venezuelan diaspora officially numbers close to 8 million, with some estimates reaching over 9 million, when considering dual nationals. Despite claims by the Maduro government, Venezuelan migrants are not returning home en masse, and emigration has persisted: “The ‘Complex Humanitarian Emergency’ has not been resolved, nor are Venezuelans returning. What remains is an undetermined number of Venezuelans living in a state of permanent commuting, unable to settle in one territory, coming and going, entering and leaving Venezuela, spending periods in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, or Colombia, and returning to Venezuela for a few months, only to be released again, to try their luck,” writes Ronal Rodríguez at El Espectador. (see also a June 2023 special edition of the AMB on a similar subject)
Reuters highlights how Venezuelans are increasingly migrating to Spain, too.
🇺🇸 United States
Pew Research Center estimates that the US foreign-born population declined by nearly 1.5 million between January and June 2025, indicating that in addition to deportations, some migrants are leaving the country on their own, reports The New York Times.
However, it is important to note that this estimate is based on official census survey statistics: immigrants, particularly those without status, likely participated at much lower rates than usual out of fear of enforcement and the Trump administration’s multi-agency deportation push.
Borders and Enforcement
🇨🇼 Curaçao
Curaçao officials apprehended 1 Colombian and 18 Venezuelan migrants at sea. (Curaçao Chronicle)
🇺🇸 United States
“The Trump administration said Thursday it is reviewing more than 55 million people who have valid U.S. visas for any violations that could lead to deportation, part of a growing crackdown on foreigners who are permitted to be in the United States,” reports AP.
“ICE to Use ImmigrationOS by Palantir, a New AI System, to Track Immigrants’ Movements” -- American Immigration Council highlights concerns.
Flush with funds, the Trump administration is considering purchasing a fleet of airplanes to conduct deportations, reports NBC, noting, “Former officials said that ICE owning and maintaining its own planes would be costly but could make it easier for the agency to potentially double the number of people it deports each month. ICE uses charter planes to deport immigrants and has done so for years.”
The Trump administration’s move to remove age-based waivers for in-person interviews for temporary visa applicants will extend visa processing times without tangible reasoning: “these rollbacks… stand in direct conflict with the administration’s stated objectives of improving efficiency. More critically, they undermine sound principles of risk management. Consular officers will need to devote time to interviewing toddlers, diverting them from identifying genuine security threats,” says Niskanen Center.
“Judge Orders That ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center Be Shut Down for Now: A judge ruled that the state and federal governments acted illegally by not conducting an environmental review before building the center in the Florida Everglades.” (New York Times)
AULA Blog highlights the fight against “Alligator Alcatraz,” including environmental advocates, immigrants’ rights activists, and the local Miccosukee Tribe.
“no matter the future of Alligator Alcatraz, the Trump administration is turning it into a model for expanding detention capacity across the country. Similar large-scale facilities, opened in collaboration with state governments, are already in the works. These projects mark the first time that states have gotten this involved in large-scale immigration detention,” according to The Marshall Project.
“Trump wants US-Mexico border wall to be painted black to stop climbers” (BBC)
More on Migration
🇺🇸 United States
“The Trump administration has directed government officials to probe any "anti-American" views and activities of immigrants applying for immigration benefits like green cards and work permits, further expanding the grounds that can be cited to deny those applications,” says CBS.
“In a departure from prior practice, USCIS officers will consider whether a naturalization applicant has positive attributes to support the approval of the application, not just the absence of misconduct in their background. Adjudicators are also being directed to engage in greater scrutiny of each applicant’s background and to assess whether, in the adjudicator’s discretion, an applicant’s conduct, despite being lawful, is “inconsistent with civic responsibility within a community.”” (Fragomen)