Americas Migration Brief - March 9, 2026
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎Regional
PAHO reviews healthcare access and health-related concerns for migrants across Latin America and the Caribbean in the second half of 2025.
An ILO report on work and social justice in Latin America and the Caribbean includes a chapter on “Migration and social justice in Latin America.”
🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda
“The Antigua & Barbuda Government plans to launch a three-month immigration amnesty, starting April 2, for undocumented migrants who have been living in the country for at least four years,” reports Radio Jamaica News.
“The processing fee has been revised downward from the originally proposed $500 to $250 [roughly 93 USD], a move the government said is intended to make the process more accessible to applicants,” adds Observer.
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
29,276 applications were filed online during the first phase of Trinidad and Tobago’s migrant registration program to temporarily regularize status. Phase two, consisting of interviews, is now underway. (Guardian, Express 1 and 2; see last week’s AMB)
“Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of National Security, Roger Alexander, said (last) Monday that he will propose to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar reopening the migrant registration system, following high demand and increased concern among undocumented people seeking to regularize their status,” reports EFE.
Asked whether migrants who did not register online would still be processed, (Acting Assistant Superintendent Sharon Williams) said, ‘I anticipate if someone comes who does not have an appointment per se, they will make the necessary arrangements to accommodate them,’” reports Guardian. It is unclear if any migrants have had any success in such a manner.
🇨🇴 Colombia
An Observatorio de Venezuela book reviews ten years of the Colombian response to Venezuelan migration, including examining different phases of the response over the years and interviewing key actors. (see also related article from El Espectador)
“Colombia went from being a world leader in immigration regularization to entering a stage of legal uncertainty that threatens to reverse the progress made. The migration process in Colombia is going through a complex moment in terms of protection for the population in human mobility, particularly for Venezuelans, due to the absence of new broad regularization measures and the progressive expiration of existing mechanisms such as the Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) and the PEP Tutor (with a validity date established until April 30), which increases the legal and social uncertainty of thousands of people,” write María Gabriela Trompetero and César González at La Silla Vacía.
🇲🇽 Mexico
A Strauss Center US-Mexico border report explores a wide range of topics, including the status of efforts to reintegrate Mexican deportees, integration challenges for migrants, and that “as of February 2026, an estimated 5,260 migrants continue to live in Mexican border cities.”
🇧🇷 Brazil
Jennifer Ullman Teixeira at Revista Común explores how schools have become frontlines of migration and integration for Venezuelan children in Brazil, highlighting ethnographic research findings from a small city in the south of the country.
MigraMundo highlights Cuban migration to Brazil: “the states with the largest Cuban population are Paraná, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo. There, they found sufficient work and security to recommend to family and friends that they also settle in these regions. Even so, there are groups scattered throughout the country, although the majority are in the South.” (see also last week’s AMB)
🇸🇻 El Salvador
“El Salvador will increase training opportunities for returned migrants through international cooperation: A formal agreement marks the start of a 30-month project that seeks to strengthen capacities, improve school infrastructure, and expand access to technical training in several regions of the country.” (Infobae)
🇺🇸 United States
“Tennessee Republicans are pushing forward with a bill that could force undocumented children out of public education and turn school administrators into immigration informants against their own students… The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, has officially called on other states to pass similar laws,” reports The Intercept, noting that the proposed law(s) are “direct challenges to Plyler v. Doe, a narrowly decided 1982 Supreme Court case that enshrined the right to a free K–12 public education regardless of immigration status. The parallel bills would also likely violate federal statutes that codify the same right.”
“According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented people in the U.S. pay nearly $97 billion in federal, state, and local taxes annually. Tax contributions from undocumented people far outweigh the financial burden of K–12 education for undocumented children.”
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎Regional
A report by a coalition of civil society organizations investigates the outcomes of “cruel migration policies” for migrants deported by the US to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, additionally examining the impact of externalization policies and the weakening of protection systems.
🇧🇷 Brazil
Almost 8,000 have reportedly been displaced by heavy rains, flooding, and landslides in Brazil. (ECHO; see last week’s AMB)
🇨🇴 Colombia
“December 30, 2025, marked a milestone in the State’s response to internal displacement in Colombia. With the approval of CONPES 4180 on Durable Solutions for Victims of Forced Displacement, a new public policy emerged to overcome the barriers faced by internally displaced persons and promote their integration. For decades, Colombia has faced one of the world’s largest displacement crises. More than 7 million internally displaced people still require assistance and reparations. According to official data, 82% of this population has not overcome their vulnerable situation… In this complex environment, CONPES 4180 offers a roadmap for the State between 2025 and 2035,” says UNHCR, heralding the policy.
🇲🇽 Mexico
A Universidad Iberoamericana report examines violence and displacement in Mexico. (news release)
The Guardian highlights challenges faced by Haitian migrants to seek asylum and build new lives in Mexico.
🇺🇸 United States
“Newly released body camera footage shows the chaotic moments leading up to the fatal shooting of a US citizen by an immigration officer in Texas last year, which only recently came to light… Martinez is believed to be the first of three US citizens who have been fatally shot by federal immigration agents during President Donald Trump’s second term,” reports BBC, adding that—as with several other cases—the administration’s narrative of events is contradicted by the video evidence. The victim’s attorneys note “That he was shot at point-blank range through his side window by an ICE agent who was in no danger.”
“Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, a 59-year-old Iranian national, was pronounced dead on Sunday, March 1, 2026 at Merit Health Hospital in Natchez, Mississippi, becoming the eleventh person to die in ICE custody since the start of the 2026 calendar year, at a rate that now averages one detained death approximately every six days,” notes Austin Kocher at his Substack. AP highlights another such case.
The Trump administration is moving to end TPS for Yemen, notes Fragomen. The move has been highly criticized by civil society, including CLINIC, amid ongoing war.
A US appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to move forward with ending TPS for Haiti while a decision on the status’ future remains under litigation. (Reuters)
“Federal appeals courts must defer to immigration judges’ findings on whether asylum-seekers show harms serious enough to qualify for protection, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously.” (Bloomberg)
“Approved asylum cases dropped sharply during the first year of the Trump administration’s expanded deportation initiatives, reports Andrea Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. Just in January, fewer than 3% of cases were approved, compared with 18% in 2025, according to an analysis of federal immigration data. What’s more concerning is that around 20% of those seeking asylum missed their hearings in January compared to 10% the previous year. Many of the no-shows this year are due to immigrants’ fear of appearing in court, Castillo notes.” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
“Minnesota launches investigation that could bring charges against US immigration officers” (The Guardian)
MPI reviews state and local efforts to constrain federal immigration enforcement.
“El Paso ICE Camp East Montana under quarantine after measles outbreak” (El Paso Times)
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, noting, “Ten people died in ICE’s migrant detention system in January and February. The sprawling tent encampment at Fort Bliss may be slated to close after three deaths and a measles outbreak. Alarming reports continue to emerge about conditions in the Dilley, Texas family detention center. Widespread and often bipartisan outrage is accompanying ICE’s plan, unconsulted with host communities, to establish a $38 billion network of “warehouse” detention centers.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
Dominica is finalizing an agreement to receive third-country deportations from the US, per Dominica News Online. According to the island’s prime minister, ““The draft agreement that we have is that the United States has proposed to send to Dominica seven people per quarter,” he said. “We have four quarters in the year, so in the year will be twenty-eight, no more than twenty-eight persons. So, that is the understanding.””
“The U.S. State Department announced the re-establishment of diplomatic and consular relations with Venezuela in a statement issued on Thursday evening,” reports New York Times.
US and Honduran officials met to discuss how to reduce the northbound migration of children and adolescents. (La Prensa)
🇬🇧🌎 Caribbean and United Kingdom
“Following the reports of the United Kingdom (UK) government imposing visa restrictions on St Lucian citizens who are visiting or transiting through the UK, effective March 5, 2026, Premier of Nevis, Hon. Mark Brantley, penned a letter, “When your neighbour’s house is on fire, wet your own”, reiterating his position on the benefits of inward regional investment,” reports WinnFM.
Brantley wrote, “I suggest that the OECS and CARICOM should engage diplomatically on an urgent basis with the UK and with Brussels. We need a full court press. But even whilst we engage, we should be expediting full freedom of movement within CARICOM, using the OECS model, to allow our people greater options for travel and work within our own region. We should revisit the urgent need for more efficient transportation of goods and people within the Caribbean. In short, our solution lies not in begging anyone to enter their shores but to make Caribbean shores more attractive to Caribbean people.”
Last year, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines established full free movement between the four countries—the rest of the CARICOM bloc, including St. Kitts and Nevis, maintain a limited free movement regime.
Labor Migration
🇨🇴 Colombia
Colombia has launched a new labor migration governance model with a guidelines and action plan report. “The document establishes guiding principles such as the centrality of human and labor rights; a gender and intersectional approach; fair, transparent, and regulated recruitment; access to clear and free information; the guarantee of security and social protection, including the portability of rights; and the application of the do-no-harm principle. These guidelines aim to prevent fraudulent and abusive practices, strengthen cooperation with destination countries, and ensure fair conditions for migrant workers,” per a press release.
🇨🇱 Chile
In Chile, “The National Migration Service reported that 116,828 work permits were issued to Bolivians last year, representing 60% of all visas granted. This massive influx of Bolivian citizens is a response to a growing demand for workers in the agricultural sector. Venezuela ranked second with 24,609.” (La Tercera)
A Project Periplo report outlines a “fair and equitable” model for temporary labor migration in Chile’s agricultural sector.
Migrants in Transit
🌎Regional
“Two months after the events of January 3rd in Venezuela, migration patterns on the Colombian-Venezuelan border remain stable and within typical historical ranges,” according to a government analysis. (Migración Colombia)
A convenience sampling-based survey of 1,204 Venezuelan migrants conducted by the Venezuelan Diaspora Observatory (ODV) found that 45% would consider returning home if conditions improved, but that 19% prefer to remain in the diaspora permanently. (Efecto Cocuyo)
Niskanen’s Gil Guerra at Points of Entry explores Iranian migration in the Americas, writing, “a small number may choose to apply for refugee status in Brazil or Argentina, but those seeking to do so with the intent of crossing by land to the U.S.-Mexico border will face steep odds.”
Borders and Enforcement
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic deported 67,940 Haitians between January and February of this year. (Infobae)
🇺🇸 United States
“After months of high-profile, militarized immigration raids in major American cities, the Trump administration has scaled back its deportation strategy, leading to a dip in arrests last month, according to three federal officials and internal government data. In recent weeks, immigration agents have focused on conducting more targeted enforcement operations, rather than indiscriminate street sweeps,” reports The New York Times.
More on Migration
🌎Regional
An open-access book explores human mobility across the Americas, including a wide range of topics and a particular focus on Mexico and Colombia among the chapters.