Americas Migration Brief - July 20, 2026
Welcome to the Americas Migration Brief! If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing with a friend or colleague.
Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.
Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.
Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇨🇱 Chile
Ipsos polling finds warming attitudes towards migration in Chile amid the Kast administration’s hardline approach: between 2025 and 2026, “The largest increases were seen in the number of people who believe a country can benefit from receiving migrants, rising from 42% to 60% (+18 pp.), and in the agreement that the State should protect and respect the human rights of migrants, regardless of their immigration status, increasing from 44% to 60% (+16 pp.). However, although it increased by 10 pp., the agreement that the State should ensure health and education for the migrant population only reached 50%,” reports Diario UChile.
🇧🇿 Belize
IDB highlights efforts to facilitate migrants’ access to public health care in Belize. Community Health Workers (CHWs), for example, are a key investment: “For migrant agricultural workers who depend on daily wages, a five-hour wait is not just an inconvenience, it can mean a day’s income lost… Investments in the CHW platform aim to bring more services and health information closer to communities, reducing pressure on facilities. A patient portal with an appointment system is also being developed to reduce walk-ins and make care more predictable.”
🇨🇴 Colombia
Amid questions over the direction of his future migration policy (see last week’s AMB), Colombian president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella stated during a public address, “All migrants who are legally here contributing to the country will be protected and supported… Those who are here illegally, committing crimes, will be returned without delay to their countries of origin,” per Infobae.
🇪🇨 Ecuador
A CEDA fact sheet on Ecuador covers a wide range of issues related to migration to and from the country.
🇺🇸 United States
“The Trump administration on Thursday revived a policy that gives immigration officers wide authority to deny green cards to people they deem likely to rely on public assistance, a significant change that could deter hundreds of thousands of immigrants from using such programs,” reports New York Times, noting that the policy “was swiftly denounced by immigrant advocates for discouraging families from seeking food stamps or housing vouchers they qualify for, potentially hurting their U.S.-born children.”
“U.S. Employers Told to Dismiss Thousands of Immigrant Workers: Shifting deadlines are confusing businesses as the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and others looms, making them ineligible to live and work in the United States.” (New York Times)
“Federal regulators on Monday directed banks and credit unions to more closely scrutinize the loans they make to immigrants who are in the country illegally,” reports Politico.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Michoacán approved a protocol for addressing forced internal displacement and reformed its Penal Code to classify this crime, with the technical support of UNHCR… thus consolidating one of the most comprehensive institutional frameworks in the country on the matter,” reports Infobae.
🇺🇸 United States
Last week’s AMB noted that an ICE officer had shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in Houston. AP highlights the ICE agents weren’t using body cameras.
“The US rejects Mexico’s interference in the management of ICE centers and returns its letters of protest over migrant deaths” (El País; see last week’s AMB)
Just days later, an ICE officer shot and killed another immigrant, this time in Maine: “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press. David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years,” reports AP.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro condemned the incident. (EFE)
And yet another death involving immigration enforcement was reported in Florida: “A man fleeing federal agents in Florida was struck and killed by a tractor trailer, marking at least the 10th death involving encounters with immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign,” reports AP.
“ICE Reports 22nd Detention Death of 2026: Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, Dies During a Transfer in Georgia” (Austin Kocher’s Substack)
“President Trump on Wednesday demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers continue to stop vehicles as they seek to detain people in the country without legal status, despite two fatal shootings that led to a temporary halt to the practice just a day before,” reports New York Times.
There have been “at least 17 shootings of motorists by federal immigration officers since the beginning of Trump’s term nearly 18 months ago,” per Washington Post.
“Federal agents around the country were told in recent days that the F.B.I. would no longer investigate confrontations with immigration agents — cases that sometimes yield evidence that could be used to prosecute Department of Homeland Security agents implicated in violent encounters… If enacted, such a change would sharply limit law enforcement scrutiny of immigration agents,” says New York Times.
Relatedly, ICE data has gone dark, per The Marshall Project: “ICE hasn’t released its semimonthly “Detention Management” report on arrests, detentions and deportations since April 9, when the agency reported holding more than 60,000 people in custody. News media, think tanks and academia have requested the missing data, and ICE has refused to deliver it, sparking at least three separate lawsuits.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“The announcement that Grenada and St Lucia are taking steps to join four other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) members in their free-movement regime is an important development in advancing CARICOM’s move towards a genuine single market and economy… At the same time, the declaration of intent by Grenada and St Lucia to open their borders, without restrictions, to nationals of reciprocating CARICOM members, reprises questions about Jamaica’s plans on this matter. The Holness administration has said that it is committed to the idea. There is, however, little evidence that Kingston is undertaking the technical work necessary for Jamaica’s transition to the regime,” says a Gleaner editorial. (see last week’s AMB)
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
“As part of its drive to ramp up mass deportations, the Trump administration is exploring the possibility of building detention facilities in other nations that could each hold up to 1,000 “illegal aliens,”” reports The Redoubt.
“While DHS primarily refers to these potential facilities as “international staging areas,” indicating they would be temporary transit points, that’s not the only term it uses. In a section on emergency preparedness, the department’s statement of work twice uses the term “detention facility,” which suggests a longer period of incarceration.”
“Belize has officially received its first migrant under the country’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. Love News has confirmed that a 41-year-old Haitian national arrived in Belize,” reports LoveFM.
Antigua and Barbuda’s legislature continues discussions on how the country should negotiate third-country deportations by the US; the country’s prime minister has suggested a US$75,000 fee per migrant. (Observer 1, 2)
The presidents of the US and El Salvador met to discuss migration, among other issues. (El País)
Tim Muth at El Salvador Perspectives believes a lack of publicity from Bukele about the meeting indicates that the Trump administration is set to let TPS for El Salvador expire on September 9.
US and Guatemalan officials met to discuss migration, among other issues. (Prensa Libre)
“DHS and CARICOM IMPACS, the Caribbean Community’s implementation agency for crime and security, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) at the Saint Kitts and Nevis embassy in Washington on July 10 to share biometric data across the region. Its framework reaches into the five Eastern Caribbean citizenship by investment (CBI) programs, and DHS ties the deal to the same concerns that drove this year’s US travel restrictions,” per IMI.
Meanwhile, amid recent controversies surrounding CBI (see last week’s AMB), Antigua and Barbuda is moving to up requirements for the program. (IMI)
🇪🇸🇵🇾 Paraguay and Spain
Paraguayan and Spanish officials met to discuss the circular labor migration program between the two countries, reportedly agreeing to establish mechanisms to monitor and support Paraguayan returnees and “promoting the application of knowledge acquired in Spain.” (LatAm Gremial)
“The statement emphasizes that this support ultimately seeks to “strengthen productive development” in the workers’ communities of origin, thus linking the migratory experience with local agricultural development.”
Labor Migration
🇨🇱 Chile
Earlier this month, the Kast administration “Undersecretary of Agriculture met with the National Migration Service and the National Agricultural Society (SNA) , with the objective of analyzing the possibilities to make the hiring requirements of foreign seasonal workers in our country more flexible,” reports InfoMigra, noting that measures are “aimed primarily at Bolivian seasonal workers.”
🇯🇲 Jamaica
The Jamaican government is pursuing new strategies to address the emigration of teachers, reports Radio Jamaica News. “Dr. Troupe said one solution is to attract more international students to Jamaica’s teacher’s colleges, helping to expand enrolment while generating additional revenue for the institutions.”
In 2024, I wrote a special edition of the AMB exploring potential solutions to address the emigration of Caribbean teachers, as well as healthcare workers—two sectors where the region frequently loses talent and thus struggles with reduced local capacity.
🇺🇸 United States
“Foreign students on F-1 visas will be limited to four-year stays in the US under new regulations finalized by the Department of Homeland Security,” reports Bloomberg. “The DHS rule released Thursday eliminates the “duration of status” framework that for decades has allowed foreign students to remain in the country as long as they maintain a full course of study. F-1 students would have to apply to renew their status with DHS after the four-year admission period is up.”
NPR highlights debates about the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural work. (see also AMBs 6/22/26 and 6/8/26)
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
A paper at Journal on Migration and Human Security leveraging IOM surveys of over 40,000 migrants in transit through Costa Rica between 2021 and 2025 finds that “after Trump’s inauguration, migrant intentions to enter the US significantly subsided, along with northbound trajectories more broadly. However, migrants traveling with children and migrants moving for economic reasons were less deterred than others.”
🇨🇱 Chile
911 Venezuelan migrants have voluntarily left Chile following their home country’s dual, devastating earthquakes late last month. (El Pitazo; see AMB 7/6/26)
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇨🇦 Canada
“The federal government will not accept any new applications this year from people who want to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada as permanent residents under a program meant to promote family reunification,” reports CBC, noting an effort to reduce backlogs.
Borders and Enforcement
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic plans to “modernize entry and exit controls” with biometrics, reports Diario Libre, noting the influence of the UAE on such efforts.
🇺🇸 United States
“Trump Blasts ‘Sanctuary’ States, but Many Still Aid Deportations: A New York Times review of 18 states targeted by the Trump administration for their “sanctuary” policies found that all cooperate significantly with immigration authorities in cases involving violent crimes.” (New York Times)
Along the Rio Grande, “Hundreds of massive orange buoys staged for a controversial DHS floating barrier project broke free near Eagle Pass and are now drifting toward Laredo, threatening bridges, commerce, drinking water supplies and downstream communities,” reports The Border Chronicle.