Americas Migration Brief - February 16, 2026
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇵🇦 Panama
“Panama has published a decree establishing, for the first time, a pathway to permanent residence for foreign nationals with long-term academic ties to the country. Under the new framework, a dedicated Permanent Resident subcategory has been created for students who have completed more than six consecutive years of study in Panama. Previously, student immigration status in Panama was strictly temporary,” notes Fragomen.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“The government of the State of Mexico has expanded job placement and skills certification programs aimed at migrants returning from the United States, seeking to facilitate their reintegration into the local labor market as deportations rise and labor shortages persist across key industries,” reports Mexico Business News, explaining, “Authorities are directing returnees to regional employment offices and state-run training centers to access job listings, vocational courses, and labor certification programs designed to improve their employability within the formal economy.”
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
Jarrel De Matas writing at Express argues that Trinidad and Tobago’s migrant regularization (see last week’s AMB) is lacking a clear vision of reform, as the timeline is short and a plan for taxation and insurance has not yet been discussed, as per the homeland security minister’s own admission: “Without a clear vision for reform, the registration fee, which seems more like a stealth tax, will only fail to solve the much bigger problem of how to integrate migrants into the society and economy… Annual renewals under our present (registration) will create social upheavals to the lives that migrants have been forced to make here as well as economic disruptions to employers who turn to migrants for labour.”
🇨🇱 Chile
Former interior minister Carolina Tohá is urging the regularization of the more than 180,000 irregular migrants biometrically registered under the Boric administration, reports Diario UChile. The incoming Kast administration has “flatly rejected” such an idea, notes El Mostrador, adding that Boric administration officials have also indicated there is insufficient time before the change in administration.
La Izquierda Diario expresses concern that the biometric registration conducted under the Boric administration as a potential first step towards regularization now leaves irregular migrants at increased risk of deportation by the Kast administration.
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
An OBMICA report “investigates the current state of healthcare services for migrant women, with particular reference to the provinces of Elías Piña and Altagracia. It explores trends affecting access to public health services, hindering the effective enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health for migrant women and their families.”
🇺🇸 United States
“Black immigrants, estimated at 4,685,000 people in 2024, are a highly diverse population that has grown at a faster pace than the overall foreign-born population in the United States. Their regions and countries of origin have also shifted in recent decades, from majority Latin American and Caribbean (heavily Caribbean) to, very recently, equal shares for those born in Latin America and the Caribbean and those born in Africa,” explains MPI, exploring the profile of Black immigrants in the US and their integration.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎Regional
“Three migrants died (two Venezuelans and one Colombian) after a boat carrying 16 people sank in the Panamanian Caribbean… An additional Venezuelan is in critical condition,” reports El Pitazo, explaining that the boat was headed south in presumed return migration.
🇵🇪 Peru
Peru’s executive branch published a decree outlining regulations “for the evaluation, determination, and termination of (statelessness).” (Andina)
🇭🇹 Haiti
1.4 million Haitians are internally displaced (half of them children), notes IRC, warning, “More than 270,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti in 2025, with current trends signaling continued returns in the year ahead. Many repatriated Haitians arrive with nowhere to go–nearly 20% were already internally displaced before leaving the country and others remain cut off from loved ones due to expanding gang control. With minimal funding for reintegration, returnees are prime targets for harm, exploitation, and even murder by gangs.”
🇬🇫 French Guiana
French Guiana received 10,919 asylum applications in 2025, an increase from 8,694 received in 2024. 78% of applicants in 2025 were Haitian, followed by 8% Afghan and 7% Syrian, reports Le Figaro.
🇺🇸 United States
A Nicaraguan migrant deported by the Trump administration was disappeared by the Ortega-Murillo regime just two days after his return, reports Artículo66.
The Trump administration has moved to end TPS for Yemen; there are currently about 1,380 Yemeni beneficiaries, reports The Guardian.
The Trump administration’s efforts to end TPS for Ethiopia have been stayed by a federal district court order while litigation continues. (Fragomen)
However, 60,000 TPS beneficiaries from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua appear set to lose that status after a federal appeals court ruling sided with the Trump administration, reports New York Times. “The Ninth Circuit decision means that while the appeal case is pending, TPS beneficiaries from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua will not have TPS protection or related work authorization. While plaintiffs in the lawsuit have the option to appeal the Ninth Circuit decision to the Supreme Court, it should be noted that the Supreme Court has ruled in the government’s favor in similar litigation,” explains Fragomen.
“Immigrant whose skull was broken in eight places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked” (AP)
“The administration ‘has slow-walked or outright defied judges’ orders’ regarding immigration detainees, Kyle Cheney of Politico reports after the outlet reviewed hundreds of cases. “There has been an undeniable move by the Government in the past month to defy court orders or at least to stretch the legal process to the breaking point in an attempt to deny noncitizens their due process rights,” one U.S. district court judge said in a recent order.” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
“Sick Detainees Describe Poor Care at Facilities Run by ICE Contractor: Problems at detention centers operated by CoreCivic extend far beyond recent measles outbreaks.” (New York Times; see last week’s AMB)
“The Trump administration’s push for mass deportations has resulted in more than 18,000 challenges in federal court from immigrants claiming their detention is illegal, more than were filed under the last three administrations combined,” report ProPublica and Texas Tribune.
On a similar note: “Prolonged detentions are more routine under the second Trump administration, and even some immigrants prepared to leave the United States willingly are kept from moving until they see a judge, reports Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press. The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that immigrants could not be held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention indefinitely and set a six-month limit. As of mid-January, 7,252 people had been in custody for longer than six months, Salomon notes.” (via The Forum Daily)
“The State Department is offering to pay Afghan nationals long stranded at a camp in Qatar to return to Afghanistan, reports Simon Lewis of Reuters. Advocates say the more than 1,100 people who’ve been at the camp include family members of U.S. servicemembers, women who served as former operatives for the U.S., and civilian refugees. Upon taking office, the current administration stopped resettling Afghans who feared Taliban retribution.” (via The Forum Daily)
“Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to resume processing Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications of Afghans and Iraqis who assisted the U.S. military, reports Alisa Reznick of KJZZ.”
🇨🇦 Canada
Although Canada has taken a critical view of the Venezuelan regime, there are limited outlets for Venezuelans to find protection in the country, reports The Globe and Mail, noting, “Venezuela’s mounting humanitarian crisis was also recognized through deportation and travel measures. The Canada Border Services Agency imposed a temporary deferral of removals on the country, meaning most deportations of Venezuelans could be postponed. Canada has also eased travel for Venezuelans by recognizing expired passports. But to critics, Canada’s efforts to resettle Venezuelans have fallen short.”
“Conservatives to propose barring non-citizens convicted of crimes from making refugee claims” (The Globe and Mail)
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎Regional
Some in Antigua and Barbuda are questioning why the country’s government is planning a migrant regularization to address labor shortage issues (see AMB 2/2/26) but has not acceded to the full free movement regime adopted by some of its Caricom neighbors, which would offer “a more sustainable path forward.” (Observer)
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
“In a secret deportation arrangement, the Trump administration flew nine people, nearly all of whom had been granted U.S. court protections from being sent back to their home countries, to the African nation of Cameroon in January. None of them are from Cameroon… and the United States has not made any public deal with Cameroon to accept deportees who hail from other nations,” reports The New York Times.
“Most of those migrants and their lawyers say they have been detained since then at a state-owned compound in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. They say they’ve been told by local authorities that they cannot leave the facility unless they agree to return to their home countries, from which they fled to escape war or persecution.”
The Trump administration has “paid more than $32m to five foreign governments – including some of the world’s most corrupt regimes – to accept approximately 300 third-country nationals deported from the US,” reports The Guardian.
Nicaragua’s removal of visa-free entry for Cubans is a sign of “the regional pressure the US is placing on Cuba,” writes James Bosworth at the Latin America Risk Report, adding, “Several international airlines cancelled their flights to Cuba this past week due to the lack of jet fuel.” (see last week’s AMB)
Other countries receiving new visa restrictions by Nicaragua due to US pressure include Haiti, Venezuela, China, Iran, and several African countries, reports EFE. Nicaragua was a key entry point to the Americas during a period of rising migration through the hemisphere en route to the US in the early 2020s.
🇲🇦🇸🇻 El Salvador and Morocco
“Diplomatic representatives from El Salvador and Morocco held a meeting in San Salvador to discuss potential bilateral cooperation in migration management,” reports Infobae, noting, “El Salvador is undergoing a process of renewing its public policies related to consular services and humanitarian aid, with an emphasis on the integration of its diaspora.”
🇧🇷 Brazil
Brazil’s federal government is beginning the public consultation process for the first National Plan for Migration, Refugees, and Statelessness, reports MigraMundo, noting, “According to public and civil society actors who are following the issue, the expectation is that the first Migration Plan will be released later this year.”
Labor Migration
🌎Regional
A series of issue briefs by LaMP outlines opportunities for labor migration pathways from Latin America to Spain for elder care and trucking jobs, as well as for a pilot initiative based in scalable financing and market-driven mechanisms for Colombian labor migration to Spain.
🇬🇾 Guyana
“As oil production in Guyana is set to increase to about 2 million barrels per day over the next five years, infrastructure companies are turning to Cuban migrants as a labor source. Official figures show a sharp increase in the number of Cubans migrating to Guyana over the past five years. In 2025, 135,000 Cubans were granted legal status compared to more than 800 in 2020,” explains CEDA’s US-Cuba News Brief.
“Guyana has yet to craft a comprehensive migration policy to complement its economic boom. But as part of this year’s budget, it’s analyzing the gaps in its workforce as an initial step. For now, work permits are being stamped case by case at the request of contractors, according to Joseph Hamilton, a ministerial adviser on labor… It’s increasingly commonplace to run into Cuban, as well as Venezuelan, laborers at construction sites across the Guyanese capital,” notes Bloomberg, adding, “One coyote, as unofficial migration operators are known, is advertising $3,000 packages for Cubans that include airfare to Guyana, a secured job and rent for one month. A third of the total is paid up front, with the remainder garnished from wages upon arrival.” (see AMB 12/22/25 on Guyana’s plans for a migration policy)
🇹🇨 Turks and Caicos
After a six-month freeze on Haitian applicants last year, skilled Haitian workers are now permitted to apply for work permits in Turks and Caicos, reports TC Weekly News. However, “the ban on unskilled workers and visas has been extended for another six months… Farmers and farm workers are the only exception for unskilled applicants, in line with government plans to bolster food security.”
Migrants in Transit
🌎Regional
The New Yorker highlights the history of Venezuelan (and Colombian) migration to and through the Colombian border city of Cúcuta: “Although things appeared quiet for the moment, many locals I spoke to were afraid that they might not stay that way. Fresh unrest in Venezuela could spark another wave of refugees, and now, after the collapse of U.S.A.I.D., most of the structures that had been in place to deal with the humanitarian emergency no longer existed.”
El Salvador “issued a total of 8,671 residences, whether permanent, temporary or transitory, during the year 2025, registering an increase of 77.7% compared to those reported a year ago.” (El Mundo)
A survey of 101 Hondurans returned from the US found that “While 81% opt for settling down [in Honduras], only 12% of those surveyed plan to attempt the migration route again within a year,” per EFE.
Borders and Enforcement
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
“The world’s largest pencil maker has accused the Costa Rican government of misusing an old factory that the German manufacturer donated for humanitarian purposes – by detaining asylum seekers there who were deported from the US by the Trump administration last year,” reports The Guardian. The former factory turned migrant shelter turned immigration detention center is known as Catem, located near Paso Canoas along Costa Rica’s southern border. As of January 28, no migrants were at Catem.
““We agreed and stipulated in the contract that the building was to be transformed into a humanitarian refugee center, and under no circumstances was it agreed to be used as a prison,” representatives of Faber-Castell’s large subsidiary in Brazil said in a statement.”
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Effective February 5, 2026, the government of Mexico reinstated the electronic Visitor Visa (e-Visa) for Brazilian nationals entering Mexico by air for tourism or business purposes. This change reverses the 2022 measure that required Brazilian nationals to obtain a consular-issued Visitor Visa prior to travel.” (Fragomen)
🇺🇸 United States
“As pathways to freedom have narrowed in immigration courts across the United States, a record number of detainees are giving up their cases and voluntarily leaving the country. Last year, 28% of completed immigration removal cases among those in detention ended in voluntary departure, a higher share than in any year prior,” reports CBS.
“The latest ICE data showed a slight decline in the total national detained population, from a record 70,766 on January 24 to 68,289 on February 7. As I discussed in my previous post, that drop may reflect a combination of legal challenges and routine fluctuation. But this slight national decline should not be over-interpreted as an indication that ICE is slowing down its mass detention expansion. When you look at individual detention facilities, the picture changes dramatically. Across the country, detention centers are growing, and some are growing fast. Several facilities that barely existed a few months ago now hold hundreds or even thousands of people,” explain Austin Kocher and Adam Sawyer on Substack.
Austin and Adam have a great set of resources and publicly available data related to ICE available at Detention Reports. Learn more here.
Wired highlights how ICE is rapidly expanding across the US: “Documents show that more than 150 leases and office expansions have or would place new facilities in nearly every state, many of them in or just outside of the country’s largest metropolitan areas.”
“Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump’s first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses,” reports CBS.
Maryland is set to pass a bill ending 287(g) agreements between state law enforcement agencies and ICE. (CBS)