Americas Migration Brief - December 9, 2024
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
“The R4V's regional Refugee and Migrant Needs Analysis (RMNA) 2024 estimates that among the 6.7 million Venezuelans living in Latin America and the Caribbean, 82 per cent are working in informal jobs, more than one third are in an irregular situation, and 53 per cent are facing barriers to accessing health care. Many also earn unfair wages, leaving 42 per cent unable to provide enough food for their families and 23 per cent living in overcrowded conditions.” (R4V)
🇦🇷 Argentina
Argentine President Javier Milei is proposing a reform to the country’s immigration law to charge foreigners for medical care in public hospitals and to charge a fee for non-resident foreign students, among other changes, including over who qualifies as a “resident.” (La Nación, Página 12)
However, “health care is regulated at a provincial level, notes Página 12.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing; see also last week’s AMB on the province of Salta’s recent moves to charge foreigners)
🇵🇪 Peru
The UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers called for the Peruvian government to improve access to regularization for migrant workers, particularly Venezuelans. (EFE)
🇧🇴 Bolivia
A SJM Bolivia report explores Venezuelan migration in Bolivia, which is mainly in transit to Chile but also includes some residency in the cities of La Paz and El Alto. An estimated 95% of Venezuelans in the country enter irregularly. There were an estimated 13,678 Venezuelans in Bolivia as of 2022. (ANF, Jesuitas)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“The construction of the “undesirable”: anti-migrant policies and discourses in the Dominican Republic” (Diario Red)
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that her government is already preparing to receive thousands of deported Mexicans living in the US,” reports EFE.
USA Today explores Mexican public opinion about immigration and some of the disconnects in public attitudes. Oxfam Mexico’s Alexandra Haas commented that “Mexicans ‘are not so much preoccupied with migration but with the lack of capacity by Mexican institutions to deal with problems’ that can come with it.”
Somoselmedio highlights the experiences of Haitian migrants on the outskirts of Mexico City.
🇺🇸 United States
“President-elect Donald Trump said he still plans to end birthright citizenship in the United States on day one — but was unable to provide insight into how he would go around the 14th Amendment,” reports Politico, adding that Trump declared interest in “(doing) something” for Dreamers, but noting that Trump himself had played an instrumental role in opposing efforts at bipartisan immigration reform during the Biden administration.
Brookings, AEI, and Niskanen crunch the numbers on the macroeconomic implications of Trump’s immigration policy plans.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🇭🇹 Haiti
“The Haitian migrant boat phenomenon represents one of the most devastating immigration crises in Latin America and the Caribbean, with thousands of people risking their lives in flimsy vessels to escape violence, poverty and hopelessness in Haiti. However, like the country’s own crisis, it often goes unnoticed amid other global conflicts,” says El País.
🇦🇷 Argentina
CAREF and partners criticize two of the Argentine government’s recent moves in relation to access to asylum: (1) the appointment of a lawyer to the refugee commission deemed inappropriate for the position and (2) “unconstitutional changes” introduced through an emergency decree that “violate the right to asylum and expose people and entire families to situations of greater vulnerability.” (see also Editorial Astrea, AMB 11/4/24)
🇧🇷 Brazil
A ruling by Brazil’s Supreme Court affirms the continuation of an August 2024 policy to restrict access to asylum applications for visa-less airport arrivals in Brazil, reports MigraMundo. (see AMB 8/26/24)
🇨🇴 Colombia
La Silla Vacía highlights protection-related challenges faced by Venezuelan migrant women, including violence and limited access to healthcare.
🇬🇾 Guyana
NGO Blossom Inc. “told the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) that there are increased cases of Venezuelan migrant women being victims of sexual and gender-based violence mainly in three interior regions of Guyana,” reports Demerara Waves.
Stabroek News reports a lack of government attention to unsafe security and environmental issues for both Venezuelans and Guyanese at Ruby, East Bank Essequibo.
🇲🇽 Mexico
An open letter to the Mexican government published by IMUMI and partners calls for Mexico to “uphold the dignity and human rights” of migrants, including by “(Rejecting) any bilateral agreement that violates international refugee law and human rights” and by “(Allowing) people on the move who will no longer be able to register on the CBP One app and who decide to request asylum in Mexico to initiate the procedure outside the 30 working days period established by the Law.”
Amid concerns surrounding the implications of Trump’s incoming presidency in the US, in Mexico, “Sheinbaum’s administration must prioritize increased funding for COMAR and the INM, expand infrastructure to process refugee claims, and ensure that these agencies are led by experienced professionals,” writes León Krauze at Washington Post.
“Mexico budget cuts leave it poorly placed to handle Trump deportations, sources say” (Reuters)
A Redodem report finds rampant cases of extortion and physical violence by Mexican migration officials against migrants. According to their surveys of approximately 53,000 migrants in 2023, such officials “are 50% more likely to commit an act of violence against migrants than organized crime,” reports Animal Político.
A UNHCR report explores the issue of gender-based violence against migrants in Mexico.
🇺🇸 United States
“Amid escalating violence and chaos in Haiti, the United States continues to send deportation flights, reports Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald. Last month the violence caused the U.S. to ground flights to the country. Despite continuing safety and human rights concerns, U.S. officials deported 70 Haitian nationals on Tuesday.” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
“It will take the Trump Administration months, if not longer, to ramp up the necessary machinery to reach its stated goals, but in the immediate term the priority for Trump will presumably be to find those who can most easily be arrested and deported. The million or so parolees who entered the country during the Biden years seem a likely place to start,” including humanitarian parolees who entered the US legally from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, says The New Yorker.
“In the period between now and Inauguration Day, on January 20th, the Biden Administration could still give immigrants additional layers of protection before Trump takes office. One of the most obvious possibilities is to expand T.P.S. for Nicaraguans, based on the indisputable fact that the country’s authoritarian regime has been carrying out a brutal repression of perceived opponents.”
Hundreds more migrants have drowned in the Rio Grande river while trying to cross into the US than either the US nor Mexican governments have reported. “Nowhere in Texas have more people died than in Eagle Pass, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s $11 billion border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, is concentrated,” per an investigation by the Washington Post, Lighthouse Reports, and El Universal.
Human Rights Watch highlights cases of inhumane treatment by US Border Patrol agents: “United States Border Patrol agents are denying asylum access to families fleeing violence in Mexico, treating them abusively and dismissively, and returning them to the country they fled in fear.”
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, including notes on the incoming Trump administration’s border and migration plans.
🇨🇦 Canada
“The federal government faced calls Friday to scrap a rule that allows migrants entering Canada clandestinely to claim asylum if they evade the authorities for two weeks, with opposition MPs saying asylum claims should be restricted to official ports of entry,” reports The Globe and Mail.
🇬🇫 French Guiana
“Thanks to a series of judicial and institutional decisions, subsidiary protection is now granted by France, almost automatically, to Haitians fleeing the security crisis in their country,” says InfoMigrants, reporting on the increase in asylum applications by Haitians in French Guiana. However, thousands of these applications await multi-year processing times amid a lack of capacity. InfoMigrants reports that the rise in applications is not because of new arrivals but rather Haitians already living irregularly in the French overseas department. (see last week’s AMB)
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“The Price of Neglecting Latin America: Guns, Drugs, and Migration Have Destabilized the Region—and Fed Dysfunction in Washington” (Foreign Affairs)
“Belize wrapped up its first term as President Pro Tempore of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM),” handing over the position to Costa Rica. (LoveFM)
NBC reported last week that incoming Trump administration officials were reaching out to several countries, including in the Caribbean and Central America, about receiving deported third-party nationals from countries that refused to accept deportees from the US.
Since then, multiple countries have denied involvement in such discussions, and no country has indicated interest in the concept. The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos both asserted their opposition, per Miami Herald, while Grenada denied talks, per Loop. Panama also rejected the idea, notes La Estrella de Panamá.
“Mexico is seeking an agreement with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to ensure it does not receive deportees from third countries in case of large-scale deportations of migrants from the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday… Sheinbaum did not outright say that her government would refuse migrants from other countries,” reports Reuters.
🇲🇽🇺🇸 United States and Mexico
WOLA considers Trump’s tariff threats against Mexico and the key cooperation on enforcement that has already been underway during the Biden administration: “Mexico’s 2024 crackdown has been its most intense ever. Since January, Mexico has averaged 115,636 blocked or encountered migrants per month—11 times the monthly average during Trump’s first administration. For the first time ever, Mexico’s number has equaled or even exceeded Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) and Border Patrol’s count of migrants encountered at the border. Mexico cracked down so swiftly that Border Patrol’s migrant apprehensions plummeted 50 percent in a single month, from December 2023 to January 2024: the sharpest month-to-month drop of the 21st century so far. This happened without a mention of tariffs or other punishments.”
🇻🇪🇺🇸 United States and Venezuela
“American oil executives and bond investors are urging President-elect Donald Trump to abandon his first-term policy of maximum pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and instead strike a deal: more oil for fewer migrants,” reports Wall Street Journal.
🇨🇺🇺🇸 United States and Cuba
US and Cuban officials met to discuss migration in routine talks, reports Reuters, adding that in anticipation of Trump’s inauguration, Cuba's deputy foreign minister commented that under current agreements “it's not realistic to think that there could be mass deportations from the United States to Cuba.”
Labor Migration
🇺🇸 United States
The Biden administration “announced the provision of 64,716 additional H-2B visas for temporary non-agricultural workers for fiscal year 2025,” reports El País
The US is adding Belize as an eligible country for temporary labor migration programs, reports BBN, noting, “Тhіѕ dесіѕіоn іnсludеѕ thе Н-2А рrоgrаm fоr tеmроrаrу аgrісulturаl wоrkеrѕ аnd thе Н-2В рrоgrаm fоr nоn-fаrm wоrkеrѕ. Тhе аnnоunсеmеnt mаrkѕ а rеvеrѕаl оf а 2018 dесіѕіоn whеn Веlіzе wаѕ rеmоvеd frоm thе lіѕt duе tо соnсеrnѕ аbоut human trafficking ѕtаndаrdѕ.”
The Baffler explores issues of labor rights abuses for H-2A visa holders.
“Historic victory for a farm workers union in California… the contract benefits more than 100 workers, mostly of Mexican origin” (La Opinión)
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
“The trek across Darién Gap on the Pacific side of the isthmus between Colombia and Panama is even more treacherous than the infamous Caribbean crossing that has become a migrant highway — nonetheless, increasing numbers of migrants are opting for the Pacific path, reports InSight Crime.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇲🇽 Mexico
Some migrants in Mexico waiting for CBP One appointments to enter the US are considering returning home if they are unable to get an appointment before Trump is inaugurated, reports Reuters.
🇵🇾 Paraguay
The Times reports on a small but growing trend of conservative Germans migrating to Paraguay because of low taxes and conservative values—all while criticizing the German government for letting in “too many” immigrants in the same breath.
Borders and Enforcement
🇲🇽 Mexico
A ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court requires the government to establish a publicly accessible registry of migrants detained in the country, an expansion of the National Registry of Detentions platform, which does not currently include migrant detainees. (El País)
🇺🇸 United States
“The Biden administration has, for the past year, been in the process of extending contracts for private sector immigration jails across the US and exploring options for expanding detention capacity,” reports The Guardian.
ImmigrationImpact looks at the fiscal and logistical realities of Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Border Chronicle looks at the role Republican-led states may play for Trump.
“The incoming Trump administration’s new border czar said that Texas provided a “model” for border enforcement,” reports New York Times.
“Deployment of the U.S. Military for Immigration Enforcement: A Primer” (Just Security)
🇨🇦 Canada
“Canada to buy helicopters, drones to meet Trump's demand for tighter border security” (CBC)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“The Dominican Republic Must End Collective Deportations of Haitians,” writes OBMICA’s Bridget Wooding at Global Detention Project.