Americas Migration Brief - October 6, 2025
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
“A historic level of migration is reshaping the societies and politics of Latin America and the Caribbean, giving rise to a new era best defined by volatility. After years of unprecedented human mobility since 2010, during which time the number of migrants in the region roughly doubled, migration has become unpredictable, multidirectional, and increasingly difficult for governments to manage. Countries have simultaneously grappled with the integration of displaced people (primarily Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans), secondary migration as individuals moved on when opportunities faltered, circular and return migration, and emigration of frustrated middle classes,” explains MPI, reviewing the state of migration and regional trends across Latin America and the Caribbean.
🇨🇱 Chile
A paper at CUHSO based on surveys of public officials from over 150 municipalities explores local government management of migration in Chile.
🇺🇸 United States
Alexander Kustov explains at Reason a path forward to making immigration popular in the US: “higher administrative capacity that moves cases quickly and accurately, better immigrant outcomes that also make immigrants’ own contributions to the U.S. visible, and more predictable enforcement that make our border more secure and enforcement encounters lawful without chaos.” Kustov adds, “governments should start where voters already agree: high-skill immigration. That is why the recent presidential plan to levy a $100,000 charge per H-1B work visa is a useful case study for how not to do immigration politics or policy.” (for more on H-1B changes, see last week’s AMB)
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🇺🇸🇸🇻 El Salvador and United States
Following deportation from the US, three Salvadoran individuals have been disappeared by the Bukele government, as per the definition of “enforced disappearance” from the United Nations, reports El País. Their families have had no information about their whereabouts or wellbeing for half a year.
“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures to locate Salvadoran Irvin Jeovanny Quintanilla García, who has been missing since March 2025 following his deportation from the United States,” reports EFE. (see also press release)
🇬🇹 Guatemala
Guatemala has renewed the humanitarian status it granted to 112 Mexicans displaced by violence, additionally granting the status to four new individuals, per La Jornada. (see AMB 8/18/25)
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Internally forced displacement in Mexico has reached record levels, driven by armed violence and the use of warfare technologies such as drones and mines. Despite some progress at the state level and efforts by civil society, legal and structural gaps persist, leaving victims completely unprotected,” says Natalia De Marinis at Insurgencia Magisterial.
🇵🇾 Paraguay
“In Paraguay, one of the most conservative countries in the Americas, many LGBTQ+ people feel compelled to leave their hometowns due to discrimination, harassment and gender-based violence,” highlights AP.
🇺🇸 United States
The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to remove TPS for 300,000 Venezuelan migrants, reports New York Times, explaining that deportations will be allowed as litigation continues.
“President Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review and rule on the legality of his January 20 Birthright Citizenship Executive Order (EO), which would deny citizenship to children born in the United States to a mother in temporary lawful status or without status, if the child’s father is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. lawful permanent resident,” explains Fragomen.
“The federal government is offering unaccompanied migrant children 14 and older $2,500 to leave the United States… Eligible children are those who are from countries other than Mexico and who are currently in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement,” reports NBC, highlighting concerns from advocates.
“The United States will deport hundreds of Iranians back to Iran in the coming weeks,” reports AP, noting, “The deportations also represent a collision of a top priority of President Donald Trump — targeting illegal immigration — against a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.”
New York Magazine traces the story of a family of Russian asylum seekers deported by the US to Costa Rica.
“A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration had used the threat of deportation to systematically silence noncitizens in academia who protested in support of Palestinians, violating the First Amendment as part of a broader strategy to stamp out campus activism,” reports New York Times.
“An ICE officer who was initially relieved of his duties after being captured on video pushing a woman to the ground outside an immigration court in New York City has been returned to duty,” reports CBS.
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, noting that “Abuses continue to accompany ‘mass deportation’ operations.”
🇨🇦 Canada
“A lawyers’ group says it is suing the federal government in a bid to boost legal protections for newcomers in “high-stakes” immigration and refugee cases. The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA) wants to force three federal departments to recognize the right for newcomers to have access to their lawyers in all stages of the visa application process,” reports Bloomberg, explaining, “Immigrant and refugee applicants can hire lawyers to represent them, but the federal government often prevents counsel from helping clients for a wide range of immigration and refugee matters.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
An IDB technical note maps and analyzes the institutional architecture of migration governance across Latin America and the Caribbean.
An IDB report explores the legal and regulatory frameworks for labor migration in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The first migrants arrived in Belize and then St. Vincent and the Grenadines as part of the full free movement regime established among the two countries, Barbados, and Dominica. (WIC News; see also AMB 9/22/25)
Stabroek News interviews expert Olivia Smith—she does not anticipate a mass migration response to the new framework.
Allaying concerns by some of free movement facilitating criminality, Barbadian prime minister Mia Mottley explained that all migrants are still vetted by Interpol, US, and Caricom databases and watch lists. (Observer)
🇺🇸🇲🇽 Mexico and United States
At NACLA, Gabriel Panuco-Mercado calls for the Mexican government to place greater pressure on the Trump administration to protect migrants.
Labor Migration
🇺🇸 United States
“A new rule allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to streamline visa processing for temporary agricultural workers in the United States, reports Andrew Rice of The Center Square. The rule, which took effect yesterday, allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to start processing H-2A applications at the same time the Department of Labor reviews employment applications, rather than requiring USCIS to wait.” (via The Forum Daily)
Migrants in Transit
🇲🇽 Mexico
A new migrant caravan has set out from southern Mexico en route to Mexico City, reports EFE. It represents a growing trend of caravans setting out for new opportunities in Mexico—not the US—says El País.
Borders and Enforcement
🇺🇸 United States
“ICE is quietly building up its ability to spy on Americans’ phones. Earlier this month, the agency activated a $2 million contract with Paragon, a service that offers the ability to remotely hack into someone’s phone. Last week, ICE entered into an $11 million contract for Cellebrite devices, which allow agents to break into a locked phone in their physical possession,” reports Reason.
“For the first time since the start of the current Trump administration, immigrants with no criminal convictions make up the objectively largest group of people arrested and detained by ICE,” notes Austin Kocher at his Substack, breaking down the data.
After a recent transfer of 18 migrants, there are currently no immigration detainees at Guantanamo Bay, reports New York Times, noting that under the Trump administration, “fewer than 700 foreign citizens have been held there awaiting deportation in an operation that was initially established with a vision of holding tens of thousands of unauthorized immigrants in tent cities.”
“Apple Takes Down ICE Tracking Apps Amid Trump Pressure Campaign: Trump administration officials have issued several legal threats over ICEBlock, a popular app that allows users to alert others to the presence of nearby immigration agents.” (New York Times)
“Trump’s deployment of troops to U.S. cities run by his political opponents has struck many as extraordinary and unconstitutional. But it’s a familiar move to Texas border residents, whose communities have been occupied by National Guard troops deployed by Republican-led states, including Tennessee, since 2021,” reports The Border Chronicle, highlighting how Texas’ Operation Lone Star has served as a guide for the Trump administration.
“A US private prisons operator will receive $157m a year to run Australia’s offshore processing regime in Nauru,” reports The Guardian.