Americas Migration Brief - March 16, 2026
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇨🇱 Chile
The newly inaugurated government of José Antonio Kast in Chile has launched its “Border Shield Plan” with the aim of halting irregular migration to the country and forcing the removal of current irregular migrants. InfoMigra reviews the new president’s campaign promises, which include the “Prohibition of sending remittances, as well as hiring and renting housing for people in an irregular situation… (and) to exclude people in irregular migratory situations from access to the public health system (except for emergencies), deny them priority or preferences in education, state bonuses and subsidies, as well as access to social housing and automatic regularization procedures.”
On his first day in office, Kast signed off on three initiatives related to halting migration, including surging military to and building physical barriers (primarily ditches) at the northern border with Peru and Bolivia. A bill to make irregular entry a crime with a minimum sentence of two months in prison is expected shortly, too. (El País, El Mostrador, La Tercera)
La Tercera examines how the Boric government developed a detailed plan to regularize some 150,000 migrants that ultimately never materialized due to a lack of political will and concern about electoral outcomes.
Chile has accumulated a backlog of more than 120,000 pending applications for naturalization. (BioBio Chile)
🇨🇴 Colombia
“The first PEP-Tutor permits were delivered by Migración Colombia to the Venezuelan population, as an advance in this regularization mechanism that the Government implemented throughout the country, and which had already been in regulation and implementation for more than a year,” notes La Opinión.
🇧🇷 Brazil
“IOM and the Brazilian Government inaugurate a Reference Center for returnees and migrants at Belo Horizonte airport” (IOM)
🇨🇦 Canada
“Quebec has introduced a temporary measure allowing certain foreign workers pursuing permanent residence to obtain an additional employer-specific work permit valid for up to 12 months. The policy aims to prevent gaps in work authorization,” explains Fragomen.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎Regional
With concern about third country deportation practices from the US with partners in the region, a coalition of civil society organizations is calling for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to “(specify) the human rights obligations of the countries in the hemisphere that have signed these agreements and requiring them to be accountable, preventing “legal fictions” from being used to evade responsibilities.” They also “request the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for a binding interpretation on the legality of these expulsions in light of the American Convention, guaranteeing the participation of civil society in the formulation of the questions.” (IMUMI)
🇲🇽 Mexico
El País highlights the growing number of complaints filed with Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) about human rights violations by Mexican institutions against migrants in transit.
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a hearing on Dominican migration policy and access to health care for Haitian migrants and their descendents, reports Diario Libre, noting, “Civil society advocated on behalf of migrants and stated that the implementation of “restrictive, discriminatory and xenophobic” migration policies translates into proven ethnic and racial persecution in the implementation of the health services management protocol for foreign patients.”
A group of civil society organizations wrote to CARICOM to denounce the Dominican Republic’s migration policy and treatment of Haitians, additionally calling for the bloc to “confront” these issues as it considers the country’s request to join the organization. (press release, letter)
🇺🇸 United States
ICE prosecutors were directed in an email last Thursday “to halt motions that would send asylum-seekers to so-called third countries to pursue their claims for protection,” according to the Seattle Times.
“A legal challenge to this tactic is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia… It’s unclear whether that lawsuit has anything to do with the government decision to halt pretermission motions. Thursday’s short email to ICE lawyers does not give a reason for the pause, or say whether it’s temporary or permanent. The email also says lawyers do not need to withdraw motions that have already been filed.”
“A U.S. court ruling in Massachusetts Friday temporarily paused the looming termination of Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Somalia,” reports AP.
“The United States deported migrants to Iran and Venezuela despite plans for military interventions: Since September, three deportation flights have been sent to Tehran. Meanwhile, deportations to Caracas have increased following the capture of Nicolás Maduro” (El País)
“In July 2025, a disturbing story surfaced: Bhutanese refugees – people who had been formally resettled in the United States nearly a decade earlier – were being deported to Bhutan. Instead of ‘going home,’ they were met with persecution and expulsion. Swiftly pushed out again, they had no option but to return to the abandoned refugee camps where many had been born. These deportations raise important questions about how resettled refugees have returned to statelessness,” explains Alice Neikirk at the RSC blog, highlighting concerns about deportations from the US and statelessness.
Various articles explain how a change in the head of DHS does not signify any substantive change in the Trump administration’s immigration agenda or approach, as Stephen Miller remains an influential figure in the White House. (Securing America’s Promise, The New Yorker, Reuters)
🇨🇦 Canada
The Carney government “has agreed to review its immigration and border bill [Bill C-12] after five years, in a bid to assuage concerns raised in the Senate about its impact, particularly on asylum seekers,” reports The Globe and Mail. The bill passed the Senate last week and is now off to the House of Commons, notes iPolitics. (see also Immigration News Canada)
Paying subscribers to the AMB are crucial to supporting this work and maintaining open access at publication for all. They also get full access to the archive of the newsletter, including AMB 11/24/25, which discusses earlier debates on Bill C-12 and concerns from both those wanting greater and lesser restrictions.
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
A lack of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and countries such as Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Argentina restricts access to consular services and thus valid documentation for Venezuelan migrants. (EFE)
The US and Venezuela recently restarted diplomatic relations after years of formally broken ties. (see last week’s AMB)
As Chile’s new Kast government considers a proposal for a “humanitarian corridor” for migrant returns (see AMB 1/19/26), “Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated this Wednesday that his country is willing to collaborate in the creation of a humanitarian corridor to transfer Venezuelan migrants from Ecuador to Venezuela, but conditioned this cooperation on the “respect” of Colombia by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa,” reports EFE.
Peru’s foreign minister indicated last week that the country “intends to propose an alternative to the land humanitarian corridor that Kast is promoting to expel illegal migrants… In this regard, the Peruvian foreign minister indicated that enabling a land corridor across the continent to Venezuela is a “titanic task, very difficult to accomplish,” but alternatives such as an air or sea humanitarian corridor could be established to transport more people.” (EFE)
“Peruvian Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela announced the immediate reactivation of the Binational Border Working Group following direct talks with his Chilean counterpart, Francisco Pérez Mackenna. The initiative aims to establish coordinated controls in the border area to ensure safe and organized migration flows between Tacna and Arica,” reports Correo.
🇨🇴 Colombia
The Colombian government has established the Migration Committee of the National System of International Cooperation of Colombia (SNCIC) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The committee is tasked with “coordinating public entities, international partners and social organizations in the face of the country’s migration challenges,” per a press release.
🇧🇷 Brazil
The Brazilian state of Ceará has launched a State Interinstitutional Committee for Attention to Migrants, Refugees and Combating Trafficking in Persons (CEMIGTRAP), meant to “bring together representatives from different State Secretariats and members of civil society to strengthen institutional articulation and monitor the implementation of public policies aimed at migration, refuge, statelessness and combating trafficking in persons in Ceará.” (press release)
🇸🇻 El Salvador
The Salvadoran government has outlined a series of changes to the country’s migration law, including in relation to naturalization of children in the diaspora and to physical presence requirements for temporary residents. (Infobae)
Labor Migration
🇧🇷 Brazil
“The number of Argentinians applying for work permits in Brazil has increased fivefold: The number of Argentinians who obtained a Brazilian CPF, a key requirement for working and earning money in that country, rose from an annual average of 8,000 to almost 40,000 in 2025. This phenomenon reflects a growing labor movement to the neighboring country, especially in sectors such as construction, agriculture, and services.” (Perfil)
🇨🇦 Canada
“Canada has launched two new work permit pathways for youth from Portugal and Taiwan, under the “Young Professionals” stream of the International Experience Canada (IEC) program,” reports CIC.
Migrants in Transit
🇧🇷 Brazil
“According to the Federal Police, Viracopos Airport receives three weekly chartered flights that bring approximately 600 Haitians to Brazil as part of this migratory flow,” reports Globo, noting that a recent flight was halted as a result of “the identification of falsified humanitarian visas.”
🇨🇦 Canada
“Canada welcomed 19 per cent fewer immigrants in 2025: ‘The cuts were quite asymmetrical’” (National Post)
“Why do people move within Canada? A study on the reasons for internal migration and mobility using the Canadian Housing Survey” (Statistics Canada)
Borders and Enforcement
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
“The Costa Rican government carried out what it described as its “first mass deportation by air” on Friday, sending 33 people of various nationalities to Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador,” reports EFE, noting that the deportation relied on support from the US.
“This is the first joint deportation operation of foreigners. In the past, it was common for each person to (be deported) separately, accompanied by a police officer, on commercial flights,” reports La Nación, adding, “Most of the foreigners committed a crime in Costa Rica and have already served their sentence, while others were in an irregular immigration status.”
🇺🇸 United States
“The Defense Department is reupping its request for civilian employees to deploy to the southwest border to assist with immigration enforcement operations, with supervisors now facing a stronger push to solicit their staff to sign up for the details,” reports Government Executive.