Americas Migration Brief - March 11, 2024
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
An IDB report “explores the perception of migrant women, their experiences in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and how these have an impact on integration indicators,” noting discriminatory narratives of hypersexualization and unique narratives targeting migrant mothers for their impact on local health and education systems or for the belief that they look to give birth in new countries as a means of regularizing their migration status.
🇨🇴 Colombia
“In August of last year, the director of Migration Colombia, Fernando García, told MigraVenezuela that a new policy on (regularization) would be announced before the end of 2023. Six months later, it remains unknown,” says MigraVenezuela, noting that “With the exception of minors, who are covered until 2031, the last migrants covered by the Temporary Protection Statute were those who arrived in the country before May 2023,” and that around 500,000 Venezuelans currently in Colombia did not take part in that previous regularization program.
Preliminary findings from a World Bank longitudinal study of forcibly displaced Venezuelan children in Colombia include that children with a regular migrant status score better on vocabulary and cognitive exams than those with an irregular migrant status.
🇪🇨 Ecuador
An IDB working paper finds that “after holding constant performance on blindly scored proficiency tests, teacher-assigned grades in Mathematics and Spanish are consistently lower for students from immigrant families” living in Ecuador, noting that the gaps are widest for male students and those in urban settings.
🇨🇱 Chile
The World Bank and partners use governmental survey data to review the state of migrant integration in Chile, including looking at gaps in labor inclusion and access to social protection and housing.
🇦🇷 Argentina
Following the controversial statements of one Argentine lawmaker singling out Paraguayan migrants and calling for an end to the migration of poor people to Argentina, Paraguayan senator Esperanza Martínez denounced the statements as discriminatory. (ABC)
🇺🇸 United States
States across the US have responded to increasing migration and a lack of Congressional action in opposing ways. While one camp has sought to “sow constitutional chaos” and block migrants, “On one side of the split screen, we see real innovation happening with 20 states now having dedicated, high-level staff focused on immigrant integration and building a more welcoming, inclusive America,” says Emerson Collective’s Immigration Update.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
From 2020 to 2023, 567 people from Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Eritrea and the Philippines were resettled to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay through the Sustainable Resettlement and Complementary Paths Initiative (CRISP) program. (IOM)
TalCual highlights the threat of sexual exploitation of Venezuelan migrant women along the Colombia-Venezuela border region.
🇭🇹 Haiti
A new spate of violence amid a general trend of worsening insecurity in Haiti has led to further displacement in the country. IOM “said in just three days last week around 15,000 are estimated to have fled gunfire in the capital, many of them from makeshift camps in schools, hospitals and squares to which they had already been displaced,” reports Reuters. (see also Al Jazeera, IOM press release)
There has yet to be any signs of an increase in maritime emigration following these recent events, reports Miami Herald, noting that US officials are closely watching the seas and “fear that trend could rapidly change. For now, violence around key roadways has frightened most civilians off the streets, paralyzing public transportation in and out of the capital. But gang leaders may soon determine they need to offer secure highway passage to buses in order to increase revenue from gang-imposed tolls, facilitating a potential rush to the exits.”
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said (last) Monday that the country will never accept the creation of refugee camps, when asked at a news conference about the possibility of this type of settlement in the face of the current unrest in Haiti,” reports Reuters.
🇵🇦 Panama
“Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was forced to suspend all medical activities for the migrant population in Darién by order of the Panamanian authorities, who allege that MSF currently does not have an agreement of current collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The organization has tried in vain to obtain such renewal since October 2023. MSF is extremely concerned about the consequences that the suspension has on the migrant population. On average, each month, medical teams provide physical and psychological health care to almost 5,000 people , with a special emphasis on survivors of sexual violence.” (MSF)
This comes just days after they had denounced growing violence and sexual violence against migrants crossing the Darien. (MSF)
🇲🇽 Mexico
3 Ecuadorian migrants were kidnapped and murdered in southern Mexico, reports Primicias.
51% of migrants surveyed by UNHCR in 2023 that entered Mexico irregularly report leaving their home country due to “violence, insecurity and threats.” This is an increase from 2018-2022, when the figure was 40%, says El País. (press release, report)
UNHCR reviews the state of internal displacement in Mexico, including looking at national and state-level policy.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
“More than 440,000 Nicaraguans requested asylum worldwide between 2018 and mid-2023, not 874,641” as previously reported, explains Confidencial, noting a fact check by UNHCR correcting previously published data. (see last week’s AMB)
The Nicaraguan government prevented at least 145 Nicaraguans from returning to the country between 2021 and 2024, reports Confidencial.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
“Nicaraguan opponents persecuted in exile: Costa Rica is no longer a quiet refuge. Human rights organizations point out persistent cross-border persecution and the risk of extradition without guarantees, while they regret changes in Costa Rican immigration processes” (El País)
🇦🇷 Argentina
CAREF explores Argentina’s asylum system from 2012 to 2022, highlighting the experiences of various asylum seekers in the country and noting long backlogs and delays in the process.
🇺🇸 United States
“Judge maintains Biden’s humanitarian parole program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua” (El País)
“The number of migrants who drowned in the Pacific Ocean trying to reach the United States rose sharply after the Trump administration added 30-foot steel barriers in the San Diego area,” reports Washington Post, citing a JAMA article.
“When it comes to addressing the current wave of migrants, many of whom are families and asylum seekers, American lawmakers don’t have to look very far to find a model to emulate: the United States’ very own refugee resettlement program,” says Vox, explaining that the program includes high levels of coordination, public assistance, and preparation for their arrival.
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, noting, “As normally occurs in spring, migration is increasing again at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“CARICOM Heads of Government are expected to meet by the middle of March for anticipated sign-off on the arrangements to facilitate the free and full movement of CARICOM nationals by the end of that month” through the CSME mechanism, reports St. Vincent Times.
Despite taking part in the CSME, Antigua and Barbuda will not take part in full free movement due to concerns surrounding public services. (Observer, Dominica News Online)
Both Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands—which are currently associate members of the bloc—are looking to become full members of CARICOM, but have expressed that they would not take part in full free movement. (Loop, BVI News, Royal Gazette)
Check out the special edition of the AMB I wrote last year about the opportunities and challenges of implementing full free movement in CARICOM. The article includes a chart showing which states participate in the CSME.
CARICOM “should urgently develop a regional strategy for dealing with the Haitian refugee question,” according to an editorial at The Gleaner that additionally calls for the Jamaican government to provide “a clear explanation of the basis on which it plans to expel 37 would-be Haitian refugees, ostensibly because they did not satisfy the criteria for being granted asylum.” (see last week’s AMB)
MPI had laid out a plan for what regional coordination could look like in a commentary last October. (see AMB 10/23/23)
“We reiterate our interest in strengthening cooperation and coordination to address the structural challenges of migration in the region and its relationship with sustainable development,” reads a declaration from the 8th summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). (The Gleaner)
Labor Migration
🇨🇦 Canada
Canada “announced two separate new immigration pilots – one for rural communities and another for francophone minority communities across Canada – while adding that the existing Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) will transition into a permanent program,” reports CIC News. (press release)
🇺🇸 United States
Amid labor shortages, the US should look to the TN visa, argues Tony Payan for Baker Institute, explaining, “The TN visa was created as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994… The TN visa is easy to get, is cheaper than other visas, can be renewed indefinitely, and doesn’t have the caps by country or total number that other visas do. The catch is this: It can only be obtained by Canadians and Mexicans, and it includes only 63 occupational categories.”
“Congress should expand the types of professionals who qualify for the TN visa. If this proves politically infeasible, the visa category should be regulatorily reinterpreted to include more professions and technical abilities. This would give the American labor market the boost it will require in the coming decades and help make our workforce one of the most competitive in the world by virtue of being well integrated with the rest of North America.”
🇬🇹 Guatemala
“GAREX: A New Association for Responsible Recruitment in Guatemala” (LaMP)
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
Venezuelan migration by foot is returning, per reports on both the Venezuelan and Colombian sides of the shared border. “More than 200 people are leaving daily on the national road” connecting Cúcuta (a Colombian city on the border with Venezuela) with the Colombian city of Bucaramanga. (Caracol, El Pitazo)
ODISEF looks at their survey data on Venezuelan migrant women’s transit.
🇭🇳 Honduras
“At least 80 thousand migrants have passed through Honduras so far this year” (Hondudiario)
🇪🇨 Ecuador
A pilot mixed flow monitoring survey by IOM in Ecuador found that 63% of surveyed individuals intended to leave the country in the next year. 70% of those interviewed were Ecuadorians. (press release)
Borders and Enforcement
🇧🇸 The Bahamas
“The Royal Bahamas Defence Force has established a blockade in the south-eastern Bahamas to guard the country’s borders against possible mass migration from Haiti,” reports The Tribune.
🇺🇸 United States
The US Supreme Court last week temporarily blocked the implementation of SB4, a Texas state law “empowering state and local police officers to arrest migrants who cross from Mexico without authorization.” (New York Times)
“The number of known successful evasions of Border Patrol (“gotaways”) have fallen to just 800 per day in fiscal year 2024—down 70 percent from 2,671 the week before the Title 42 expulsion authority ended on May 11. A decline in gotaways this large and fast is unprecedented in Border Patrol’s history, and even as the administration faces unrelenting criticism, this stands as a major immigration win,” says Cato Institute.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“The record of arrests in 2023 and the internal deportation strategy used by authorities evidence that the Mexican government is putting obstacles in the way of people moving towards the northern border,” says El País, explaining, “Most experts agree that Mexico is carrying out internal “deportations” from the northern border to the southern, a tactic that wears down migrants who have often spent all their savings to reach the border with the United States.”
🇧🇷 Brazil
A member of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has introduced a bill to make “facilitating illegal international migration” a crime. The bill appears to target migrant smuggling, given that human trafficking is already a crime in Brazil. (Gazeta Brazil)
🇨🇦 Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador “is the only Canadian province with no plans to end the controversial practice of incarcerating migrants in its provincial jails,” reports CBC.
More on Migration
🌎 Regional
An Inter-American Dialogue report explores the costs of money transfer operators to send remittances.