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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
“The proportion of Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Peruvians who report they would be bothered “some” or “a lot” to have Venezuelan immigrants as neighbors increased significantly between 2018 and 2023,” according to LAPOP’s Pulse of Democracy 2023 report.
The report also has a dedicated section on intentions to emigrate across the hemisphere, with 79% of Haitians expressing interest, compared to just 14% of Mexicans.
🇨🇴 Colombia
“Petro’s government has rightly maintained the Venezuelan regularization process, but there have not been any additional efforts to support their economic integration. As such, the future of Venezuelans’ economic inclusion in Colombia remains uncertain. In particular, obtaining formal jobs continues to be a major challenge for many Venezuelans, especially as Venezuelan professionals struggle to validate their credentials in the country,” says Refugees International in a new report, adding that “Colombian municipalities are stepping up to support the integration of displaced Venezuelans.”
The latest DANE Migration Pulse survey finds that 81.7% of Venezuelans in Colombia plan to stay in the country, notes América Economia.
“Lack of access to documentation and immigration regularity are the main obstacles to employment” for migrants, per a study by the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Colombia).
🇧🇷 Brazil
“In Manaus, 'Empreende Day Migrante' aims to help refugee entrepreneurs: In addition to funding, the program also offers mentoring to professionals as part of a training journey” (EmTempo)
Folha highlights the experiences of the more than 10,000 Indigenous Venezuelan refugees living in Brazil since 2017.
🇬🇾 Guyana
Tensions over a border dispute have fueled xenophobia against Venezuelan migrants in Guyana, reports El Pitazo.
🇦🇷 Argentina
An article in POSTData explores immigrant integration policy in two municipalities in the province of Buenos Aires from 2019-2023.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Confidencial highlights the impact of growing violence and insecurity in Costa Rica on Nicaraguans in the country.
🇨🇱 Chile
An Ipsos poll explores Chilean public opinion on migration. (see also last week’s AMB)
🇺🇸 United States
“Tensions simmer as newcomers and immigrants with deeper US roots strive for work permits” (AP)
An MPI report “explores the United States’ formal consultation processes through which resettlement agencies and state refugee coordinators are required to brief receiving communities on anticipated refugee arrivals, gauge local capacity to receive them, and solicit input… (and) finds that these consultations are coming up short due to the narrowness of their scope and a rigid structure that allows little time for two-way dialogue and relationship building.”
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
The US—and international—asylum system is not set up to respond to displacement due to climate change, says New York Times.
US and Dominican officials coordinated “to rescue 60 Caribbean migrants from a 35-foot makeshift vessel that was taking in water off the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic,” reports Gleaner.
A Niskanen Center report explores Canada’s private refugee sponsorship model and lessons to be learned for the US, including that “refugees matched with private sponsor groups are more likely to land higher-skilled jobs.”
“Specialists and activists from Tijuana (Mexico) and San Diego (USA), on the border of the two countries, created the Umed.Me application, to store the medical information of migrants in a cloud and serve people on their migratory journey,” reports EFE.
HIAS explores protection issues for migrants traveling through the Darien Gap from Colombia up to Honduras.
🇭🇹 Haiti
“The gangs, and those who support them, have also made farmers and the properties they work on prime targets. Ransom payments, theft of crops and livestock, and destruction of irrigation canals have forced over 22,000 people to flee their villages and seek refuge in the region's urban centers,” per a UN report. (see also Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇨🇱 Chile
A Venezuelan migrant died while trying to enter Chile irregularly near Colchane. (BioBioChile)
🇺🇾 Uruguay
“The floods affecting the province of Entre Ríos have forced almost 500 families in the town of Concordia to evacuate their homes,” reports m1.
🇨🇦 Canada
The Haitian community in Quebec is upset over the province’s decision to opt out of Canada’s new humanitarian family reunification visa program for Colombians, Haitians, and Venezuelans, reports CBC. 87% of Canadians of Haitian origin and almost 40% of Colombian origin live in Quebec.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Since 2021, Mexico City has remained the second entity with the most refugee requests nationwide, only behind Chiapas,” reports El Sol de México.
“The INM and the Government of Mexico City evicted migrant camps and expelled their inhabitants to other states in the country. Activists denounce the acts and demand the creation of state shelters and the closure of migrant detention centers,” reports Pie de Página.
🇺🇸 United States
“Members of the U.S. Senate are currently negotiating a deal to continue funding the federal government next year, as well as providing military aid to Ukraine. But the cost could be the federal government’s ability to provide humanitarian protection to migrants in need,” says American Immigration Council’s ImmigrationImpact, explaining, “The clearest proposal on the table – and one that, according to public reports, has the broadest support among negotiators – would raise the standard for an initial asylum screening interview, requiring an asylum seeker to show a “reasonable fear” of persecution to an asylum officer in order to be allowed to plead their case before an immigration judge, rather than the current standard of ‘credible fear.’”
“Progressive and Hispanic Democrats are enraged about the emerging agreement to try to reduce migrant flows by imposing a stricter definition for migrants to meet when they claim they need refuge because they fear persecution in their home countries. It is not clear whether the idea will survive an intensive round of negotiations to finalize the national security spending measure, which could reach the Senate floor as soon as next week,” reports New York Times, adding that Republicans and Democrats “remain at an impasse… over whether to change policies governing when and where people entering the United States without permission should be detained or paroled into the country until their cases can be heard by a judge.”
“Over 1,300 people have faced kidnapping, torture, rape, extortion, and other violence while waiting to seek protection in the U.S. since the asylum ban took effect in mid-May 2023,” explains Human Rights First.
A Fwd.us report breaks down the case for TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, and Guatemala.
“ICE’s failure to engage in meaningful oversight is part of a larger detention and enforcement apparatus that covers up abuse and stifles accountability,” argues National Immigrant Justice Center in a policy brief exploring immigration detention and oversight.
“Dangerous chases of vehicles thought to contain migrants under the Texas government’s Operation Lone Star program led to crashes that killed at least 74 people and injured at least another 189 in a 29-month period,” per a HRW report. (press release)
Strauss Center’s US asylum processing report finds that “each day, a very small number of individuals enter the United States as walk ups at a port of entry without a CBP One appointment,” at times doing so off of waitlists reminiscent of metering.
🇮🇸🇻🇪 Venezuela and Iceland
The about 1,500 Venezuelans in Iceland at risk of deportation are calling on UNHCR “to act as a mediator to prevent these deportations,” reports El Pitazo.
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
Bolivia is a part of the Andean Community, a regional bloc that includes a free movement regime, but implementation and regulation of the bloc’s migration statute has faltered in the country, says Abogados.
If Argentina pulls out of the Mercosur regional bloc, as promised by president-elect Javier Milei, “this could affect the functioning of (Mercosur) residence agreements, making it harder for Argentinians to work in other South American countries and vice versa. It is worth noting that around 80% of migrants to Argentina originate from other parts of South America. In addition to that, more than 300,000 Argentinians live in other South American countries and their rights could be affected by such a decision,” note Diego Acosta and Leiza Brumat at The Conversation.
🇺🇸 United States
“Since the Obama administration, the use of litigation by states and other groups has resulted in dozens of cases leading courts to issue sweeping orders stopping or restarting programs or policies, often on a nationwide basis… While courts have an essential role in ensuring federal policies are lawful, the current situation is causing grave harm to our immigration system and posing a risk to our national security,” writes C. Stewart Verdery Jr. at Washington Examiner.
“Notorious for its reliance on antiquated paper files and persistent backlogs, the U.S. immigration system has made some under-the-radar tweaks to crawl into the 21st century, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as a catalyst,” explains MPI.
Labor Migration
🇲🇽 Mexico
Mexico’s “sugar cane sector and the immigration authorities reached an agreement to open the southern border for the hiring of sugar cane cutters from Belize and Guatemala, given the scarce local labor force,” through an expansion of access to border worker visitor cards, reports Novedades de Quintana Roo.
🇺🇸 United States
“A limited number of H-1B specialty occupation workers will be able to renew their visas in the US as soon as January,” as opposed to needing to travel outside of the country to do so, notes Bloomberg.
Migrants in Transit
🇨🇱 Chile
Fewer migrants have irregularly entered Chile through Colchane so far this year in comparison to last year, although more are entering through Chacalluta, reports La Tercera. Overall, irregular entries have fallen by 24% this year, to 20,298. (see last week’s AMB)
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Ecuador’s ombudsman is calling for a humanitarian corridor through the country for Venezuelans leaving Peru, reports CableNoticias. (see last week’s AMB)
Fewer Venezuelans have been documented leaving through Ecuador’s northern border to Colombia than entering the southern border from Peru, says El Universo. Officials indicate that this is because migrants are traveling through irregular channels.
Primicias highlights increasing Asian, particularly Chinese, migration to Ecuador, often en route north.
🇯🇲 Jamaica
A group of at least nine Haitians arrived by boat to Jamaica last week, following other boat arrivals in recent months. (Radio Jamaica News, Observer)
Their “abrupt repatriation has raised eyebrows and ignited a debate over the treatment of Haitian migrants in comparison to other immigrant groups,” says CNW.
🇬🇹 Guatemala
“According to World Vision, 85.4% of Guatemalans who migrate do so in search of improving their living conditions… migration is also due to the fact that 75.4% of Guatemalans do not have job opportunities and 35.2% lack land to cultivate,” with climate change impacting these conditions. (Prensa Libre)
🇨🇴 Colombia
Ligia Bolívar highlights at El Espectador the growing use of Colombia’s San Andrés island for migrant smuggling and trafficking to evade the Darien Gap.
🇲🇽 Mexico
León is becoming an important point of transit for Venezuelan migrants heading north, says Onda Local.
🇦🇷 Argentina
Argentines are increasingly emigrating to Spain, reports Clarín.
Borders and Enforcement
🌎 Regional
Aruba Airlines is canceling flight service from Cuba to Nicaragua, joining the airlines Air Century and Sky High, reported 100%Noticias on November 29. The move is a result of the threat of US sanctions. (see last week’s AMB)
On December 1, Periódico Cubano reported that Conviasa was the only remaining airline operating Cuba-Nicaragua flights.
CubaNoticias360 reported on November 24 that Air Century was the first airline to end their flight service from Cuba to Nicaragua.
Despite new restrictions to limit charter flights, La Prensa reported on November 28 that Haitian and African migration through Managua’s airport remains prevalent.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
Nicaragua has closed the Las Manos customs office along its border with Honduras in order to block migration heading north. (Tiempo, HCH)
🇨🇱 Chile
“Chile will expel irregular immigrants who have not provided their data to a voluntary biometric registration plan, President Gabriel Boric announced on Thursday, toughening his speech against irregular migration,” reports France24.
🇵🇪 Peru
Gestión highlights recent moves by Peru to ramp up enforcement, including a new decree that “transport companies that transport foreigners in an irregular situation will be subject to a serious penalty [fine].” (see also press release)
🇺🇸 United States
“The total number of migrants held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities has swelled to nearly 40,000 — the most since January 2020,” according to TRAC. (Border Report)
🇨🇦 Canada
“The national spy watchdog says Canada’s border agency needs to do a better job of documenting how and why it singles out certain air passengers for possible additional scrutiny,” reports The Globe and Mail.
Demographic Trends
🇺🇾 Uruguay
“The Uruguayan census revealed that, if it were not for immigration, the population would have decreased in the last 12 years… Preliminary data indicate that 61,810 immigrants are living in Uruguay. If a ranking of arrivals between 2011 and 2023 is made, it is led by Venezuelans (27%), followed by Argentines (22%) and Cubans (20%).” (Infobae)
🇺🇸 United States
“Immigration will make the difference between future population growth or decline,” says Brookings in a report on US census projections.
More on Migration
🌎 Regional
“USAID Announces More Than $450 Million in Development Funding to Address Root Causes of Migration in Central America.” (press release)
An Inter-American Dialogue report explores migration across the region.
🇨🇱 Chile
Communities experiencing net emigration in Chile are more likely to face greater mental health issues, reports Diario Mayor.