Americas Migration Brief - February 2, 2026
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
Spain has announced a large-scale regularization program that will benefit many Latin American migrants in the country. Close to 290,000 Colombians, 110,000 Peruvians, and 90,000 Hondurans may benefit, among others. (EFE, El País)
🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda has announced an “Immigration Amnesty” program to regularize the status of migrants in the country with the aim of addressing labor shortages. “Further specifics regarding the program, including eligibility criteria, application procedures, the implementation date, and the total duration of the amnesty, are expected to be disclosed soon,” reports Observer.
“Additionally, the Minister of Social and Urban Transformation, Rawdon Turner, recently found it necessary to import workers from the Dominican Republic to complement the local workforce due to the current shortage. The government believes that many workers already present in the country possess the necessary skills but have been unable to work or regularize their status due to family situations or previous job losses.”
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
Within the first half-day of the online portal opening for Trinidad and Tobago’s new migrant regularization program, “1,611 applicants had started the registration process but had not yet completed their applications, while 599 immigrants had successfully completed registration,” reports Guardian, adding, “Several migrants complained that the $700 fees for adults (children are free) were too steep, but when asked whether the Government will consider reducing them, [Prime Minister] Persad-Bissessar responded, ‘No.’” (see last week’s AMB)
Guardian additionally noted, “The high volume of traffic coincided with reports of technical difficulties on the first day of registration, raising concerns among immigrants and organisations assisting them.” (see also Newsday)
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Bridging Borders Through Skill Recognition for Migrants in Mexico” (paper via Forced Migration Current Awareness)
🇨🇱 Chile
Findings from Chile’s 2024 Casen study were published last month, with FMBolivia highlighting findings related to the country’s immigrant population: “According to the study, Haitians lead the poverty index with 42.4%, followed by Bolivians with 38.6%. Further behind are Peruvians (26.7%), Colombians (23.4%), Ecuadorians (22.9%), and Venezuelans (20%)... In contrast, Chile reduced its overall poverty rate from 20.5% in 2022 to 17.3% in 2024.”
A recent Cadem survey includes a host of data on Chilean public opinion related to migration. “56% agree with completely closing the borders, a figure that, although a majority, represents the lowest level since January 2024,” reports La Tercera, adding that “61% agree with regularizing undocumented immigrants if they can demonstrate formal employment, while 43% support regularizing those with children born in Chile.” At the same time, “81% agree with expelling any immigrant who has entered the country irregularly.”
🇯🇲 Jamaica
“The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has developed a handbook to help guide deportees or involuntarily returned migrants (IRMs) and formerly incarcerated persons seeking to reintegrate into the Jamaican society,” reports Gleaner.
🇨🇦 Canada
“Starting May 1, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will introduce co-payments for supplemental health products and services for eligible people (beneficiaries) covered under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), meaning that refugee claimants will have to co-pay for some of their health-care coverage,” explains FCJ Refugee Centre, noting, “Advocates criticized the measure, pointing out that full access to supplemental care, especially for things such as dental health and trauma counselling, is crucial to this vulnerable population.”
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
A CEJIL bulletin reviews migration issues in Central America and Mexico during 2025, including highlighting concerns about challenges surrounding access to protection and asylum.
A paper at Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies “explores how humanitarian policies/practices are being rolled out as a tool for migration control in Latin America.” (gift link)
🇩🇴 Domincan Republic
Over a decade after a Dominican Constitutional Court ruling “retroactively eliminated the right to citizenship by birth, or jus soli, for people born in the country between 1929 and 2010 to Haitian parents,” an estimated 150,000 individuals remain stateless, reports El País.
Following Chilean president-elect José Antonio Kast’s recent visit to the Dominican Republic (see last week’s AMB), Felipe González Morales highlights at El Mostrador concerns about the Dominican Republic’s history of abuses related to migration: “Perhaps the most blatant example of the cruelty of Dominican immigration policy is the routine detention of pregnant migrant women as they leave the hospital after prenatal checkups… Also very serious in the Dominican Republic is the widespread practice of collective expulsions, that is, expulsions without regard for each person’s individual circumstances. This goes so far that often not only are migrants (generally Haitians) expelled, but also people who hold Dominican nationality and have Haitian features.”
🇺🇸 United States
The Trump administration is reportedly restarting the “Remain in Mexico” program to send asylum seekers to Mexico as they await US court dates. (The Latin Times)
“Federal Court Temporarily Blocks TPS Termination for Burma (Myanmar)” (Fragomen)
“On January 25, Judge Indira Talwani of the Boston District Court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s effort to end the legal status of more than 8,400 individuals under family reunification parole programs, including the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) program,” explains CEDA’s US-Cuba News Brief. The parole programs also include Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. (see AMB 1/12/26)
News and analysis related to abuses by federal immigration agents:
The Marshall Project examines several shootings and killings perpetrated by US immigration agents, noting, “After shooting people, federal agents repeatedly failed to provide first aid, and officials spun narratives disproven by video.”
A Minnesota judge released a list “of nearly 100 court orders he says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated over the last month,” per Reason.
Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order “directing Chicago police to investigate any alleged illegal activity by federal immigration agents, aiming to hold them accountable for any criminal misconduct,” reports ABC. “Johnson’s office says his executive order makes Chicago ‘the first city in the nation to leverage local authority to pursue legal accountability for misconduct by federal immigration agents.’”
“After the deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of federal agents, Democratic legislators across the country, aided by libertarian groups, are redoubling their efforts to restrict and challenge federal immigration tactics in their states,” reports The New York Times, highlighting various states’ efforts.
“Why It’s Hard to Sue ICE Officers for Abuse: The civil rights law that has allowed lawsuits against local and state police doesn’t apply to federal agents.” (The Marshall Project)
“Why the D.H.S. Disaster in Minneapolis Was Predictable: For decades, ICE and Border Patrol have operated with fewer constraints than typical law-enforcement agencies.” (The New Yorker)
“Border Patrol Nation? For decades, the Border Patrol has operated with extraconstitutional powers along the U.S.-Mexico divide. Now it’s leading the charge in U.S. cities across the country.” (The Border Chronicle)
“After Bovino Leaves, Minnesotans Search for Signs of Change in Crackdown: Arrests were continuing, according to residents who have tracked the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, but some people observed fewer clashes.” (The New York Times)
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎Regional
“Recent developments on free movement were spotlighted as Ministers of Labour across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met on Tuesday, 20 January for discussions on the labour agenda across the Region,” reports WINN, noting, “Additional items tabled included the CARICOM Labour Migration Policy Framework and Action Plan. The framework provides a clear and comprehensive guide for CARICOM Member States to manage labour migration effectively.”
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
“The United States and Argentina are in advanced talks to sign an agreement that would allow the U.S. to deport immigrants from other countries to the South American nation,” reports New York Times.
Antigua News received a leaked copy of Antigua and Barbuda’s MoU with the US to receive third-country deportations. (see AMB 1/19/26)
“Colombia announced that it will resume deportation flights of migrants from the United States on Colombian aircraft after an eight-month suspension and just days before the meeting between Presidents Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump,” reports EFE.
“Ecuador’s foreign ministry protested to the U.S. government after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent tried to get into Ecuador’s consulate in Minneapolis yesterday. (Reuters)” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
“Almost a year after Trump strong-armed a deal with Costa Rica to receive 200 people from other countries who were being deported from the United States after being denied the right to request asylum, a small handful remain there in legal limbo and fighting for compensation, reports the Guardian.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇬🇹 Guatemala
“The Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM) marked a milestone in the decentralization of public services with the inauguration of the first Regional Migration Headquarters in the department of Chiquimula, this Tuesday, January 27, as part of the strategy to bring migration services closer to the population in the interior of the country,” reports AGN.
Labor Migration
🇨🇦 Canada
An editorial at The Globe and Mail argues that “Canada has gutted its economic migration program,” critiquing recent prioritization of francophone applicants for permanent residency slots in Canada, noting that some high-skilled workers in non-priority sectors have struggled to have their applications accepted.
Migrants in Transit
🇨🇦 Canada
“RBC Economics, Canada’s largest bank, warns that the country may be cutting immigration too aggressively. International student applications are plummeting, and the new system is “clunky and cumbersome.” A fascinating case of the thermostatic pendulum swinging too far in the restrictive direction—the mirror image of what happened in 2022-2023,” notes Alexander Kustov at Popular Design.
🇧🇷 Brazil
Venezuelan migration to Brazil is increasingly characterized by families, not individuals, reports Folha, noting that 1 in 4 new arrivals are under the age of 15.
🇭🇳 Honduras
Honduras will continue its ongoing suspension of fines for irregular transit migration through the country. (Infobae)
Borders and Enforcement
🇦🇷 Argentina
“Is Argentina creating its own version of the US immigration agency ICE? The Milei government boasts of a ‘record number of expulsions’ of foreign nationals, as it plans to launch a new National Migration Agency” (Buenos Aires Herald; see also AMB 12/1/25)
🇹🇨 Turks and Caicos
“The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands is moving to actively enforce visa bonds, warning that sponsors could face financial penalties and restrictions on their ability to sponsor others if visitors they bring into the country overstay,” reports Gleaner.
The UK has “failed” to support Turks and Caicos on “stemming illegal immigration,” per TC Weekly News.
🇰🇾 Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands continues to ramp up planning for a potential influx of Cuban migration (see last week’s AMB), now including calls for additional Spanish interpreters, per Cayman Compass.
🇺🇸 United States
“A new government memo disclosed in federal court granted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers more leeway to carry out warrantless arrests of those suspected of being in the U.S. illegally,” reports CBS.
“A new data analysis shows that immigration street arrests quadrupled during the first nine months of the Trump administration, confirming a drastic increase in interior immigration enforcement, reports Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News.” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
Meanwhile, “In the middle of a week of tense budget negotiations that hinge on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is flouting Congress’s requirement that it produce detention data every two weeks,” says Austin Kocher at his Substack.
“Some ICE veterans ‘have concerns about the qualifications and aptitude of [new recruits], especially those with little or no previous law-enforcement experience,’ Nick Miroff of The Atlantic reports.” (via The Forum Daily; see also AMB 1/19/26)
An American University and National Immigration Project report explores privatized immigration detention and mass surveillance at the border and beyond, highlighting how criminal prosecutions of migrants and private interests that support restrictionist immigration policy mutually reinforce each other.
“Council on National Security and Immigration leaders published a statement addressing the need for a shift in enforcement approaches. “For our nation to remain secure, the people must be able to maintain trust in federal law enforcement and in the government more broadly,” they wrote. “When trust is broken due to aggressive actions and escalatory tactics, our national security erodes ....”” (via The Forum Daily)
Recommendations include: “At the operational level, mandating the use of body-worn cameras, prohibiting the use of face coverings, and requiring officers to clearly display identification.”
“Dozens of Cuban men designated for deportation from the United States have been stranded at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since before Christmas,” reports New York Times.