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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
France is financing a project called “Women putting down roots” in Quito, Ecuador and Cali, Colombia, reports Efecto Cocuyo, explaining that the project looks to promote integration and prevent gender-based violence (GBV) against Venezuelan migrant women. The project focuses on housing, employment, GBV prevention, and access to health services. A potential expansion to Costa Rica and Peru is being considered for the future.
Considering demographic trends, Haitian migration could “help unlock solutions to major economic challenges facing the Caribbean region,” according to Barbados’ ambassador to Caricom. However, “the ambassador acknowledged Haiti would need to achieve a degree of stability to effectively harness this potential,” reports Barbados Today.
🇨🇴 Colombia
Colombia announced a temporary regularization program—through the Permiso Especial de Permanencia (PEP) mechanism—for the parents and guardians of more than 270,000 migrant minors from Venezuela who had been able to access regularization through the Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) despite their guardians not being eligible. (El Pitazo, El Universal, CNN)
According to a Migración Colombia report, as of February 2024, 486,072 of the 2,845,706 total Venezuelan migrants in the country are in an irregular status.
A Migración Colombia report explores the health of Venezuelan migrant women in Colombia, highlighting lower levels of prenatal care for pregnant Venezuelans in comparison to Colombians, among other findings.
🇨🇱 Chile
A new law on violence against women includes migrants and displaced persons among especially vulnerable groups. (InfoMigra)
“Fears over organised crime have fomented anti-migrant sentiment among Chileans, polls show, but González said the gangs’ victims themselves were mostly migrants. Cases of violent gang crime targeting Chileans were “very exceptional”, he said,” reports FT in an exploration of the role of the Venezuelan-origin Tren de Aragua gang in Chile.
A REMHU paper surveying South American immigrants in Chile finds that “immigrants who perceive more discrimination in the workplace are those who mainly interact with foreigners from a third nationality” (other than Chilean or their own). There were no statistically significant differences in discrimination reported between different immigrant nationalities or between men and women.
A Nómade presentation breaks down and analyzes the data related to migration from Chile’s 2022 Casen survey.
A REMHU paper finds the COVID-19 pandemic had a disproportionate negative impact on Venezuelan, Haitian, and Peruvian migrants in comparison to Chileans.
🇵🇪 Peru
MPI’s Migration Information Source explores the history and legacy of Asian immigration in Peru, connecting the trend to today: “History may be repeating itself. Amid the arrival of very large numbers of Venezuelans beginning in 2015, Peru was initially regarded as among the most receptive countries, offering the arrivals a special work permit and temporary legal status. But the government’s approach began to grow more restrictive, and meanwhile Venezuelans in Peru have faced various forms of discrimination.”
“In Peru there are a total of 1,542,004 Venezuelan citizens, of which more than 850,000 are in a regular immigration situation,” leaving roughly 45% of migrants in an irregular status, reports Rostros Venezolanos, explaining access (and lack thereof) to regularization in the country.
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
This week, Trinidad and Tobago will begin registration for migrant children to attend school this upcoming September, reports Newsday. Their parents must have regular immigration status, among other requirements, and “the application does not guarantee placement and is dependent on availability of space at schools.”
The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association indicated concern about capacity and workload to Newsday: “We are yet to be convinced that the requisite resources will be forthcoming in time for the new term.”
🇧🇷 Brazil
Venezuelan migrants make up roughly 30% of the population of the border state of Roraima, according to the Diocese of the region, reports IHU, noting a prevalence of homelessness among this population and the city more generally.
🇦🇼 Aruba
“In Aruba, the former Minister of Tourism stated that over 20,000 undocumented people are estimated to be living in the country. The “Nos Pais” platform, an initiative he leads, suggests implementing a regularization exercise that allows undocumented people to contribute to taxes. The Minister of Integration suggests changes in Aruba's policies due to labor shortage, including speeding up permit application processes and creating new opportunities for foreign nationals,” according to a UNHCR fact sheet.
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
A CIVICUS interview highlights “structural and political anti-Haitian racism” and its impact on elections and policy in the Dominican Republic.
🇺🇸 United States
“President Biden on Tuesday announced a large-scale immigration program that will offer legal status and a streamlined path to U.S. residency and citizenship to roughly half a million unauthorized immigrants who are married to American citizens,” reports CBS. (see also White House fact sheet)
The measure was celebrated by the Mexican government, notes SwissInfo. The US ambassador to Mexico posted on Twitter that an estimated 320,000 of the potential beneficiaries are Mexican nationals.
An American Immigration Council fact sheet breaks down the policy in depth.
A similar initiative was also introduced to “make it easier for Dreamers and DACA recipients who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education to become eligible for work visas in the United States,” explains National Immigration Forum.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
Celebrating World Refugee Day, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls for the region to “strengthen national systems for the recognition of refugee status in order to respond to current displacement dynamics,” including “(recognizing) new factors of displacement relating to natural disasters, climate change, and other environmental emergencies in national protection systems.” (press release)
BBC breaks down key refugee stats in Latin America, based on UNHCR data.
🇨🇱 Chile
A Cuban migrant was found dead along the Bolivia-Chile border, reports CiberCuba.
🇭🇹 Haiti
“Nearly 580,000 people are internally displaced across Haiti, a 60 per cent increase since March,” says IOM. (see also OHCHR)
🇧🇷 Brazil
Truthout highlights occupations of decades-old abandoned buildings by those displaced by recent floods in southern Brazil, explaining, “The situation in many shelters is complicated. There’s no privacy. Hundreds of people sleep on mattresses on the floor of large gymnasiums, their things piled around them. Many of the shelters that were set up in the wake of the disaster were done so in schools, churches, and municipal gymnasiums or buildings. Now that those institutions are reopening for the public, there’s been a push to close down the shelters. Many people have nowhere else to go.” (Truthout)
“Rio Grande do Sul authorities reported that around 37,000 people were living in communal shelters by the end of May,” according to a UNHCR situation report. More than 580,000 had been displaced by the floods at the end of April.
🇨🇴 Colombia
A WOLA report explores protection issues for migrants in transit through Colombia, explaining that “from the informal crossings or trochas at the Ecuador border to every step of the way through the Darién jungle border with Panama, violent criminal groups are in control… The Colombian state is absent from both border zones.”
🇬🇹 Guatemala
A CGIAR and UNHCR policy brief explores the relationship between security, climate change, and displacement in Guatemala.
🇺🇸 United States
“This fiscal year, the United States will resettle more than 100,000 refugees, the most in three decades,” according to a White House fact sheet explaining the Biden administration’s efforts to rebuild and modernize the refugee resettlement system.
CMS also explores the recent history and potential future of US refugee resettlement.
Human Rights First breaks down the impact after two weeks of the Biden administration’s new moves to restrict access to asylum at the border, reporting that some asylum seekers have been deported despite indicating fear of return. (see AMB 6/10/24)
“Venezuelan asylum seekers placed in solitary in retaliation for hunger strike, attorneys say” (Source NM)
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“A group of 159 civil society organizations from across the Americas has endorsed a comprehensive set of recommendations for the signatories of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, urging them to include civil society in its implementation.” (CEDA)
Colombia hosted consultations for the regional Cartagena+40 process last week, focusing on the impacts of natural disasters on displacement. (UNHCR, El Tiempo)
The agenda for a Caricom heads of government meeting July 3-5 will include migration, reports Stabroek News.
An IOM report investigates the free movement regime of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), with a focus on data collection.
🇺🇸🇵🇦 Panama and United States
Panama’s president-elect, Jose Raul Mulino, said “he wants to start daily repatriation flights to send undocumented migrants from Panama to their countries of origin,” with the US paying for the operation, reports Miami Herald: “Mulino said he has already discussed the idea of starting daily U.S.-paid repatriation with U.S. diplomats, and hopes to explore it in greater detail with Biden’s envoy to his inauguration ceremony.”
🇻🇪 Venezuela
The Venezuelan government is creating “a new vice-ministry that will serve Venezuelan migrants,” reports Efecto Cocuyo.
Labor Migration
🇺🇸 United States
Brookings created a new tool, the Visa Outlook Explorer, to project immigrant labor needs through 2030, including at state level and broken down by occupation.
A LaMP report surveying H-2A temporary agricultural workers in the US about their recruitment experiences finds that while almost all workers reported receiving the salaries and job roles promised, some indicated they were made to pay illegal fees during the recruitment process.
🇨🇦 Canada
“When the federal Home Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot programs were launched in 2019, they were supposed to provide a ‘clear, direct pathway to permanent residence.’ Unfortunately, the pilot programs that ended on June 17, 2024 have largely not delivered on their promises, failing thousands of migrant care workers and their families in the process,” says PolicyNote.
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
UNDP explores climate mobility in the Americas, noting, “several Latin American and Caribbean governments are integrating human mobility into their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Strategies (NAPs).”
A UNDP report explores Colombia’s approach to climate mobility, adaptation, and resilience—and the potential lessons for the rest of the region.
“Mexican authorities detected almost 1.4 million “people in an irregular migratory situation” between January and May 2024,” reports France24.
Reuters tracks the extracontinental migration routes of Indians and Africans looking to arrive to the US, with charter flights to Central America playing a key role. Some of these trips can cost up to $96,000.
A La Prensa and Connectas investigation highlights the voices of migrants in transit through the Darien Gap and the impacts of migration on the Indigenous village of Bajo Chiquito, Panama.
A Mixed Migration Centre report explores social media use among migrants in transit through Latin America to North America.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
Nicaragua’s migration agency made “8.42 million USD in migration fees in the first three months of 2024. The figure is equivalent to 53% of the annual goal,” reports Confidencial.
Borders and Enforcement
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Ecuador is “temporarily suspending” its agreement with China to mutually grant each other's nationals visa-free status. “In the last year almost 50% of Chinese citizens who entered the country did not register their departure,” with many using Ecuador as a transit country en route to the US, reports Primicias.
I explained on LinkedIn that Chinese migrants may now look to Suriname as a point of entry to the Americas, although the country has a history of imposing visa restrictions on nationalities using visa-free status for irregular migration. Bolivia may also may be a potential point of entry with visa-upon-arrival status currently.
One attorney interviewed by Nikkei Asia explained that Chinese nationals “can still apply for a visa to Ecuador even if it's less convenient. Some pay 'tourism agencies' to get them Japan visas or [European] Schengen visas, and they fly directly to Mexico." Mexico waives its visa requirement for foreign nationals who have obtained Schengen, Japanese or U.K. visas, allowing the holders to stay for up to 180 days.”
Some analysts are arguing that Ecuador’s visa restrictions policy should be extended to other nationalities, too, reports El Universo.
🇰🇳 St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Kitts and Nevis passed a landmark Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Bill which “takes into account the rights and protection of the victims involved,” reports Observer. “St. Kitts and Nevis has witnessed a concerning rise in smuggling incidents, predominantly involving Haitian nationals and Cameroonians,” per a press release for the new law.
🇺🇸 United States
“The US seeks to resume deportations to Venezuela and increase repatriations to Cuba” (EFE)
“Nearly a year since Texas adopted a law empowering state and local police officers to arrest undocumented migrants who cross into its territory, Republican lawmakers in at least 11 states have tried to adopt similar measures… The fate of the proposals — six have been enacted or are under consideration, with Louisiana expected to sign its measure into law as early as next week — is still being litigated. In a case before a federal appeals court, Texas is defending its law by arguing that illegal immigration is a form of invasion, allowing it to expand its power to protect its borders. Federal courts have previously ruled that, from a constitutional perspective, the definition of the term invasion is limited to military attacks,” reports New York Times.
🇰🇾 Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands will start imposing visa restrictions on Cubans in-transit through the country, reports Cayman Compass, noting that “Only 1 in 4 roundtrip passengers who left Havana, Cuba on Cayman Airways actually used their return ticket back to Cuba.”
More on Migration
🇨🇺 Cuba
A new bill presented in Cuba’s legislature would allow Cubans to renounce their citizenship, among other migration-related measures, explains CiberCuba. “Among the most worrying articles are those that make official the exile of Cuban citizens and the prohibition of leaving the country for those who are of "public interest", a way of controlling migration similar to the famous "carte blanche", that official document that Cuban citizens needed to obtain from the authorities to legally leave the country. This exit permit was mandatory until 2013, and its granting depended on the approval of the Cuban authorities, who had the power to grant or deny it at their discretion,” says PeriódicoCubano. (see also CiberCuba)