Americas Migration Brief - July 15, 2024
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Quick announcement: Hi all, I’ve gotten some questions about if I will be continuing the AMB despite starting my PhD this fall. The answer is, most definitely! You can thank AMB partner CEDA for helping make these weekly briefs possible since we launched our partnership earlier this year. If you want to support my work, particularly the writing of special editions, please consider pledging a donation today. As I begin this foray into academia, I plan to remain as connected to the policy world as ever. Don’t hesitate to reach out by email (jordi.amaral@gmail.com) or to connect on LinkedIn!
Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
An Alliance for Financial Inclusion report explores the financial inclusion of migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean, noting that Mexico and Ecuador are the only two countries in the region to have formal policies dedicated to this topic.
🇵🇪 Peru
“The National Immigration Superintendency reported that a total of 114,287 Venezuelans who have the Temporary Residence Permit Card (CPP) have not requested their foreigner's card, so they would be at risk of falling into an irregular immigration status… After 6 months with (CPP), Venezuelans can apply for Peruvian residency through special resident immigration status, which provides a foreigner's card,” explains Rostros Venezolanos. (see also La República)
🇨🇴 Colombia
A ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court mandates the government to establish “an accessible route that guides the Venezuelan population on the alternatives to legally remain in national territory,” in the case of not receiving refugee status upon applying. (press release)
🇨🇱 Chile
Over half of surveyed Chilean companies want an increase in the limit of foreign-born workers permitted (currently at 15%), while many are unaware of the allowed exceptions and how the rules operate. (Nómade)
A Frontiers in Global Women's Health paper exploring maternal care and perinatal outcomes in Chile finds that “Haitians had a highest risk of undergoing emergency c-section (aRR = 1.61) and Venezuelans had a highest risk of elective c-section (aRR = 2.18) compared to non-immigrants.”
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Boom highlights life along the Haiti-Dominican border, xenophobia against Haitian migrants and limited opportunities.
🇺🇸 United States
MPI “estimates that approximately 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the United States as of mid-2022—up from 11.2 million in 2021 and 11.0 million in 2019.”
“As we reach the mid-year point in 2024, most states have concluded their legislative sessions, and once again, immigrant-related policies have taken center stage. This year, legislatures advancing harmful policies targeting immigrant communities have stolen the headlines, with numerous extreme proposals becoming law—but that’s not the whole story. Many states have also advanced welcoming policies that aim to help newcomers succeed,” explains Immigration Impact.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
Many in the Caribbean remain displaced by Hurricane Beryl earlier this month (see last week’s AMB). In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, “an estimated 1,000 people remain in public shelters, a figure that does not account for those in private homes,” as of a July 9th OCHA situation report. In Grenada, 95% of homes in the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique were “damaged or destroyed.” According to an IOM situation report, nearly 7,000 individuals were affected on those two Grenadian islands, while operable shelter space is limited. According to IOM, “Initial findings from the Site Profiles Rapid Assessment (DTM RNA) which visited 5 emergency shelters and St Vincent indicate that the primary needs of the population in the emergency shelters on the main island are security / protection, WASH, Non Food items and food.”
An IMUMI report explores the differentiated impacts of climate-related displacement on women, highlighting displacement in Mexico and Central America.
An OPS report explores the health of migrants in transit on both the Colombian and Panamanian side of the Darien Gap.
🇨🇴 Colombia
“A boat carrying 20 migrants sank Tuesday off Colombia's Caribbean coast (near San Andrés), leaving at least one person dead and four missing,” reports AFP.
“On July 12, the Colombian Ombudsman's Office warned of an increase in infectious diseases among migrants trapped in border towns with Panama, who cannot continue their journey due to the closure of the Darién,” says Primicias. (see more below at Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation)
A landmark ruling from Colombia’s Constitutional Court, T-232, is the first decision by the Court to rule on, and protect, the rights of a child born through surrogacy to prevent risk of statelessness, per a press release.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights celebrated the decision on Twitter.
🇯🇲 Jamaica
“In March, Jamaica opened its doors to 59 disabled orphans from Haiti, a country plagued by violence and instability. This act of kindness was a testament to our nation’s commitment to humanitarian principles. The orphans, along with their caregivers from HaitiChildren, were granted a 90-day stay to ensure their safety and well-being. However, as the 90-day period expired, the situation took a distressing turn. On Tuesday night, immigration authorities deported 12 of the 16 caregivers who had come to Jamaica to assist with the care of these vulnerable children… This decision raises several concerns about the treatment of refugees and the processes in place to extend their stay in Jamaica,” according to an op-ed at Jamaica Gleaner.
🇲🇽 Mexico
Following the recent large-scale displacement of a town in southern Mexico, just 30% of the town’s residents have returned, reports EFE. (see AMB 6/17/24)
🇧🇷 Brazil
Brazil needs to develop new strategies to address climate mobility and displacement, says Robert Muggah at The Conversation.
🇬🇹 Guatemala
A UNHCR report monitoring migration through Guatemala finds that Ecuadorians were most likely to report violence as a cause of their migration among those surveyed, while 57% of all of those surveyed reported being robbed while migrating.
🇺🇸 United States
The US is extending and redesignating TPS for Yemen. 2,300 Yemeni nationals are current beneficiaries, and 1,700 are expected to be able to newly apply. (press release)
“Expanded protections for Haitians are a positive step, and the U.S. can do more to help people escaping Haiti’s violence and political crisis, Jennie (Murray) writes in a Miami Herald op-ed. Among her suggestions: pause deportations, raise or remove the cap on private sponsorships, expand virtual visa processing and better protect Haitian children. "We can show we’re serious about a more humane, orderly immigration system through our response to Haiti’s humanitarian crisis," she concludes.” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
“U.S. Officials Wanted to Avoid Trump’s ‘Kids in Cages’ Problem. Doing So Created Another Dilemma. Officials sent children to suspicious guardians as they struggled to house minors crossing the border in 2021, internal documents show” (Wall Street Journal)
“Following the lead of the Texas National Guard, the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office is buying pepper ball and tear gas launcher rifles to potentially use against migrants to prevent them from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.” (Texas Observer)
A Hope Border Institute and DHIA report “presents the impacts of a multilayered border in El Paso-Ciudad Juárez in three sections: the impacts of Mexican enforcement actions before arriving to and while in Ciudad Juárez; the impacts of Texas’ Operation Lone Star at the border wall; and the impacts of the U.S. asylum bans. It also unmasks how criminal organizations prey on those who migrate while they wait in Ciudad Juárez.”
A Women’s Refugee Commission brief issues recommendations for the Biden administration at the US-Mexico border, including that they should “Hire child welfare professionals to care for children while they are in CBP custody” and that “DHS should increase CBP One appointments to 2,650 per day over the next six months.”
🇨🇦 Canada
“The Canadian government is being sued for allegedly violating migrants' rights by detaining them alongside criminal suspects while awaiting processing of their status… One of the migrants described his time in detention as a ‘living hell,’” reports AFP.
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
Costa Rica’s president is closely following Panama’s pilot plan to deport migrants from the Darien Gap using US funding and training, reports La Estrella de Panamá, adding that the US wants Costa Rica to join the initiative to halt migration north. (see last week’s AMB on cooperation in the Darien)
Panama’s president “says that Brazil needs to help control the Darién crisis,” calling for a halt to the use of the country as a point of entry to the hemisphere for extracontinental migrants and calling for a greater regional response to control migration through the Darien, reports Folha.
Colombia’s president criticized the use of barbed wire blockades by Panama at the Darien Gap, saying that it would only bring people to drown at sea. (CNN)
🇧🇴🇧🇷 Brazil and Bolivia
The presidents of Brazil and Bolivia met and “signed several projects to strengthen the capacity of public agents to combat human and drug trafficking and improve migration management… The Federal Police and the Bolivian Consulate in São Paulo are working together to regularize the migratory situation of the thousands of Bolivians who have contributed so much to boosting our economy and enriching our culture,” according to a press release.
Labor Migration
🇨🇦 Canada
390 migrant farm workers—mainly on temporary work permits—have joined a union in a historic move, reports CBC.
One of the types of motivations for their unionization: “Migrant farm workers need better heat protections, say advocates: Farm workers 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure” (CBC)
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
A new web portal focused on Latin America, Boom, launched with an investigation following migrants in the Darien Gap, publishing articles on the experience, as well as a podcast and a short documentary film.
“Many middle-class Chinese trekking to the US are college-educated, have an established career or business in China and know how to use a VPN to avoid official censorship and access the free internet… Many find the US attractive because they see it as an economic powerhouse where there is also political freedom,” reports Al Jazeera, following Chinese migration through the Americas to the US.
“From South America to Africa. This is the long journey that hundreds of Latin American migrants seeking asylum in Europe have recently taken,” explains Primicias.
“5,000 Miles, 8 Countries: The Path to the U.S. Through One Family’s Eyes” (New York Times)
🇨🇺 Cuba
“Cuba's population fell by 18% between 2022 and 2023, mainly due to migration… according to an independent demographic study ready for publication to which EFE has had access.” (EFE)
Borders and Enforcement
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Some Haitian migrants allege extortion and corrupt practices from Dominican immigration officials, reports La Propuesta Digital, while The Haitian Times adds, “Many Haitians repatriated to Haiti acknowledge having paid large sums of money to return illegally to the Dominican Republic with the complicity of different sectors, particularly the neighboring country’s army.”
🇺🇸 United States
The US is expanding its visa restrictions and individual sanctions policy to “now also apply to executives of travel agencies and tour operators who provide travel services designed primarily for irregular migrants to the United States.” (press release)
🇨🇴 Colombia
“As of July 8, 2024, Cuban passengers traveling to Nicaragua with a stopover in Colombia will need a visitor visa, Wingo Airlines reported.” (El Toque)
More on Migration
🌎 Regional
CFR explores the factors driving migration to the US from Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
A CLACSO journal with several papers explores migration across the region.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Jason De León, an anthropology professor at UCLA and executive director of the Undocumented Migration Project, spent nearly seven years with a group of smugglers moving migrants across Mexico. In an interview with Meghna Chakrabarti of WBUR, produced by Jonathan Chang, De León shares his insights—including why "once you get locked into that world, it's really difficult to get away."” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
Thanks for your hard work and objective views, they are very much needed. The only thing I missed was a reference to the Argentinian presidency's Decree (Nº 584/2024), raising the price of migration fees by 1500%.