Americas Migration Brief - December 15, 2025
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇨🇱 Chile
Far-right politician José Antonio Kast has been elected Chile’s next president. He promises a more restrictive, hardline approach to migration. (EFE, Bloomberg; see also last week’s AMB and AMB 11/24/25)
🇭🇹 Haiti
A study by IOM and partners investigates the reintegration of recently deported Haitians. Key findings from this first round of a panel study include that “Unemployment and measures of economic stress are high across the country for both deportees and non-deportees. Compared to non-deportees, deportees report fewer assets and less integration into the labor market, as measured by the amount of work in the last four weeks. Compared to non-deportees, deportees score lower on indices that measure dignity, social and political integration, and mental health. About half of respondents report symptoms consistent with depression or anxiety.”
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans living in Trinidad and Tobago “face challenges securing the basics of daily life such as education, employment, food, health care, and housing… Although work authorization is available to those who registered with the government during a brief period in 2019, just a little more than 16,500 did so, leaving the majority without access to formal employment. In November 2025, the Ministry of Homeland Security cut the number of work permits from 4,275 granted in 2024 to 757. Researchers have found that this has contributed to a high prevalence of severe food insecurity among Venezuelan residents,” explain Timothy Affonso and Sharifa Simon-Roberts at MPI’s Migration Information Source, highlighting the situation of Venezuelans in the Caribbean country.
They add that Trinidad and Tobago’s Immigration Act “does not recognize asylum seekers or refugees and criminalizes all persons who enter irregularly… As a result, instances of Venezuelan migrants who meet the international refugee standard and have been deported, separated from family members, or criminally charged for entering irregularly would seem to constitute breaches of the Refugee Convention framework. The government’s ability to continue this approach was confirmed in the 2023 case Dominguez v Minister of National Security, in which a judge decreed there is no national legal requirement to comply with the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the government could deport even recognized refugees. International advocates including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concern about the ruling, appealing to parliament to incorporate the convention into domestic law.”
“Rapidfire Kidz Foundation President Kevin Ratiram is calling for urgent national support to help migrant children access education, transportation, and emotional care—warning that without early intervention, the country could face deeper social challenges in the future,” reports Trinidad & Tobago Guardian
🇺🇸 United States
“Federal immigration officials are canceling naturalization ceremonies across the country for people coming from Haiti, Iran, Sudan and other countries included in the administration’s most recent travel ban, report Jazmine Ulloa and Orlando Mayorquín of The New York Times. After obtaining their green cards and passing civics tests, naturalization interviews and background searches, immigrants on the verge of citizenship are left with uncertainty,” explains National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily. (see last week’s AMB)
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“The death in the Dominican Republic of a girl of Haitian descent, who drowned in a swimming pool during a school trip, has reignited complaints from the Haitian government and society, who lament “acts of violence” and “abuses” against Haitian migrants in the neighboring country,” reports EFE, noting that the victim’s cries for help were ignored and that she had been bullied in school for her heritage.
Colectivo HaitianosRD submitted a letter to the Dominican Attorney General’s Office “reiterating… denunciations and requests for investigation into serious human rights violations committed against Haitian people and Dominicans of Haitian descent.
🇲🇽 Mexico
Many asylum seekers in Mexico are being denied access to the Visitor’s Card for Humanitarian Reasons (TVRH), crucial documentation for access to formal employment, education, and essential services, says USCRI, calling for the Mexican government to “(reinstate) issuance for all asylum seekers in accordance with Article 52 of the 2011 Migration Law of Mexico.”
🇧🇷 Brazil
Nexo examines the use of humanitarian visas in Brazil. The policy was originally introduced for Haitians and Syrians in the 2010s but has faced greater restrictions in the last few years despite the granting of access to Afghans and Ukrainians in the 2020s.
🇺🇸 United States
“The Trump administration is moving to roll back key immigration protections, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing Friday the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia and the end of multiple family reunification parole programs affecting migrants from several Latin American and Caribbean countries… with the latter affecting immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador,” reports Newsweek.
“Four Cuban immigrants being held at a Texas detention center claim they were among dozens who were driven to the Mexican border and pressured by masked officials to cross it or face imprisonment and beatings, according to a letter civil liberties groups sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement today. (Washington Post; via Latin America Daily Briefing)
“Senate Report Exposes Systematic Abuse of U.S. Citizens by ICE and CBP, Directly Contradicting Noem’s Denials: Pregnant women, disabled veterans, and a 6-year-old autistic child among those seized by agents operating as ‘paramilitary force,’ report finds” (Migrant Insider)
A Strauss Center November 2025 report “focuses on current U.S. asylum restrictions at ports of entry and migrants’ experiences in Mexican border cities.”
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, noting that “Military lawyers assigned to immigration courts are issuing removal orders at a greater rate than civilian immigration judges,” and that “A new White House National Security Strategy would give the U.S. military a greater role in border and homeland defense.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
R4V announced the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) 2026, calling for “USD 763 million to support 1.2 million refugees and migrants with immediate assistance in areas related to integration, protection, and access to essential services such as housing, food, water, and education.”
Canada should consider launching a variation on the Safe Mobility Initiative created during the Biden administration in the US, writes Doug Saunders for The Globe and Mail, explaining, “It would allow prospective migrants and refugees, including those living in the United States and along the road in the Americas, to have their case considered and their background screened before coming to the border.” (see AMB 11/24/25)
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
“Venezuela’s interior ministry said in a statement late on Thursday that the United States has suspended a migrant repatriation flight which had been set to arrive on Friday, amid months of high tensions between the two countries,” reports Reuters. The US, however, denies this.
Kosovo has received a first group of 50 deportees from unnamed countries under a “Safe Third Country” Agreement with the US. (Reuters)
🇵🇪🇨🇱 Chile and Peru
Chilean and Peruvian officials met to discuss the recent crisis at their shared border (see last week’s AMB), looking to develop a technical plan to “(strengthen) joint border management and (ensure) more efficient and safe migration processes for citizens.” (Andina)
🇦🇪🇪🇨 Ecuador and UAE
“Ecuador and the United Arab Emirates sign an agreement to establish a circular migration program” (EFE)
Labor Migration
🇨🇦 Canada
Canada has announced new measures to recruit immigrant doctors through permanent residency pathways. (CIC News, Canadian Immigrant)
“Canada is making an aggressive effort to attract highly skilled researchers from around the world, including H-1B visa holders in the United States who are coming under growing pressure because of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and cuts to research funding,” says New York Times. (see also Fragomen)
🇺🇸 United States
“20 States Sue to Block $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visas: California and New York are among the states arguing that the Trump administration’s decision to charge that fee for skilled foreign workers is illegal.” (New York Times)
Migrants in Transit
🇧🇷🇦🇷 Argentina and Brazil
The apprehension of a bus carrying 125 Argentines into Brazil has ignited conversation surrounding migration from rural Misiones province to southern Brazil to work informally in the agricultural sector—despite access to free movement and work permits through Mercosur. (AgroMisiones)
Borders and Enforcement
🇵🇪 Peru
An operation by Peruvian officials apprehended 1,500 migrants across several cities, according to Expreso.
Venezuelan opposition party Vente Venezuela has denounced that the operation selectively targeted Venezuelan migrants in Peru and that “the vast majority of the people involved had fully regular immigration documentation,” per Infobae.
🇧🇸 The Bahamas
The Bahamas’ ruling party has struck a clause from the proposed Smuggling of Migrants Bill that would have protected smuggled migrants from prosecution “for illegal entry, illegal stay or possessing fraudulent documents if those actions were directly caused by being smuggled,” reports The Tribune. The clause had been the subject of protests by the opposition. (see last week’s AMB)
“Prime Minister Philip Davis… said asylum procedures remain unchanged, calling claims to the contrary scare tactics. He argued that the bill pursues multiple aims: targeting organised smuggling networks, imposing long prison terms and heavy fines, and expanding enforcement tools.”
🇺🇸 United States
“The Department of Homeland Security recently signed a contract worth nearly $140 million to purchase six Boeing 737 planes for deportations — a move that will allow the agency to operate its own fleet,” reports Washington Post.
“Mapping 1,200 ICE Partnerships: A visual report on the 287(g) Agreement Program” (Maxwell Commons)
“The Trump administration has put together a plan to send immigration agents to the U.S.-Mexico border to catch migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and are trying to return home voluntarily around the holidays… Travelers who have no immigration or criminal records and who don’t pose a public-safety risk would be considered “voluntary returns” to their home countries. Others would be processed according to their current immigration cases, the document states, suggesting they would be detained and face formal deportation proceedings… Formal removal proceedings can bar people from reentry for a certain number of years or permanently, and make reentering a crime,” reports HuffPost.
More on Migration
🌎 Regional
“Personal Remitting in Numbers: What Constraints Are Expected in Remittance Growth in 2026?” (Inter-American Dialogue)
🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
“Saint Vincent Deputy PM Outlines Framework for Planned (Citizenship by Investment) Program: The last OECS nation without a CBI program outlines its multi-institutional framework as Deputy PM emphasizes accountability, regional best practices, and job creation over pure revenue generation.” (IMI)
🇧🇿 Belize
Belize is set to establish a program for permanent residency for those that invest at least $500,000 and meet other qualifications, reports BBN.
Realy solid roundup of how fast asylum policy is shifting across the hemisphere. The IOM Haiti reintegration study showing 50% depression/anxiety rates among deportees is sobering and highlights how enforcement without support systems just exports the trauma. Trinidad-Tobago's Dominguez case is wild, essentially ruling that international treaties don't bind domestic courts unless codified into local law first. That logic could undermine protections region-wide if other countries follow suit. The mexcian TVRH denial issue feels especially strategic, cutting off work access forces people into informal sectors where they're easier to exploit.