Americas Migration Brief - March 30, 2026
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇨🇱 Chile
Chile’s Chamber of Deputies passed a bill to restrict access to benefits for irregular migrants, as well as to prioritize Chilean nationals in the country’s public health and education systems. The bill now goes to the Senate. (press release; see BioBioChile on what benefits migrants do have access to)
The children’s ombudsman has criticized the bill as discriminatory and incompatible with the Chilean constitution and Law of Guarantees for Children, notes La Tercera.
La Tercera reveals more information about the recently out-of-office Boric administration’s planned regularization program, which was never launched and implemented. (see also AMB 3/16/26)
The new Kast government’s migrations director Frank Sauerbaum told La Tercera, “We are not going to carry out a mass regularization as proposed by the Boric administration. Instead, we will establish a process to regularize the status of those who truly meet the requirements in Chile.”
A pair of articles at InfoMigra argue that regularization would help improve security and avoid fiscal waste.
🇨🇴 Colombia
In a new ruling, Colombia’s constitutional court is urging the ministry of education to “design and implement a protocol for the validation of academic degrees aimed at people recognized as refugees or asylum seekers.” (press release)
La Nación highlights integration challenges for Venezuelan migrants in the Colombian education system, including discrimination and bullying.
🇨🇼 Curaçao
“The government of Curaçao has officially launched the “Rib’e Lugá” program, a temporary initiative aimed at registering and legalizing undocumented individuals living on the island,” reports Curaçao Chronicle, explaining, “Rib’e Lugá is open to individuals who can demonstrate that they entered Curaçao before November 13, 2025, continue to reside on the island, and do not have a criminal record… The program will officially begin on May 1, 2026. The registration period will last three months and will be conducted entirely online. Applications will be assessed based on clearly defined criteria, with the possibility of obtaining a temporary residence permit ranging from one to three years, depending on the purpose of stay. Several pathways to legalization are included, such as employment, self-employment, and family reunification. Special attention will also be given to the protection and future of minors.”
🇲🇽 Mexico
“A group of about 500 migrants traveled through southern Mexico Wednesday, protesting long waits for paperwork and requesting authorization to move to areas with greater employment prospects,” reports AP.
🇬🇹 Guatemala
In 2025, the Guatemalan “Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance provided care to more than 10,000 returnees in Guatemala City and the border municipality of Ayutla, San Marcos… Among the labor reintegration initiatives, 1,311 repatriated citizens participated in job training processes, and of these, 850 people managed to enter the labor market,” reports Infobae, reviewing achievements from the year.
🇺🇸 United States
A Journal on Migration and Human Security paper estimates “that beneficiaries of birthright citizenship will have contributed $7.7 trillion to the U.S. economy through their income between 1975 and 2074.”
“White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller is pushing Texas lawmakers to make it harder for undocumented children to attend publicly funded schools, reports Lauren McGaughy of The New York Times. Such a policy would challenge the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 ruling in Plyler v. Doe, under which states must pay for elementary schoolchildren’s public education no matter their immigration status. Lawmakers in several states are considering such legislation, College of Charleston education professor William McCorkle writes in The Conversation.” (via National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily; see AMB 3/9/26)
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🇭🇹 Haiti
A Mercy Corps report examines internal displacement in Haiti, noting that “life inside IDP sites is defined less by access to temporary shelter and more by ongoing exposure to violence, high rates of gender-based violence (GBV), near-total livelihood collapse, and extreme food insecurity, all compounded by weak reporting mechanisms and inadequate protective infrastructure.” (see last week’s AMB)
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Confidencial highlights the challenges faced by Indigenous Miskito women that have fled to Costa Rica from Nicaragua, including exploitation, discrimination, and violence.
🇸🇻 El Salvador
“A group of 18 Venezuelan men whom the U.S. (deported to) a notorious Salvadorian mega-prison are demanding that Salvadorian authorities be held internationally accountable for violation of human rights – detailing new allegations of torture, sexual assault and medical neglect, reports the Guardian.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇺🇸 United States
“A federal judge on Monday blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing a new policy that would subject thousands of refugees to arrest and detention if after a year in the United States they had yet to obtain green cards… plaintiffs alleged the policy exposed over 100,000 lawfully admitted refugees whose adjustments of immigration status applications are pending before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to potential detention.” (Reuters)
The Supreme Court appears to lean towards siding with the Trump administration on a case on “metering,” in which officials can “turn away asylum seekers when officials deem U.S.-Mexico border crossings too overburdened to handle additional claims,” per Reuters. (see last week’s AMB)
“In a growing number of cases, the Trump administration has recently begun admitting to judges it is unable to defend some of its decisions to detain immigrants. In dozens of cases over the past several weeks, Justice Department lawyers have declined to push back on detainees’ claims that they’re owed a chance to make a case for their release. In those cases, the administration has simply agreed to provide a bond hearing, or even outright release,” reports Politico.
Mother Jones reveals that ICE has also taken away immigration documentation and not returned it upon release: “Again and again, according to 10 immigration lawyers interviewed for this story, immigrants in Minnesota have been released from detention centers without the work permits, Social Security cards, licenses, and other documents that prove their status.”
“Although fewer children are now at the Dilley, Texas, detention center than earlier this year, conditions for those detained are still concerning, reports Garance Burke of the Los Angeles Times. Court documents filed Friday cite many cases of children lacking adequate food, medical attention or mental health care.” (via The Forum Daily; see last week’s AMB)
“San Diego County Sheriff’s officials failed to investigate at least seven reported sexual assaults at the privately run Otay Mesa immigration detention center in 2025, and records show the agency has ceded control of the cases to civilian administrators employed by the nation’s largest for-profit prison contractor,” reports Cal Matters.
“Human Impact Project: A living database documenting reported incidents of harm related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.” (HUMSI)
🇨🇦 Canada
Bill C-12 has passed and become law, adjusting Canada’s asylum system through “1. New eligibility requirements for asylum claims; 2. A modernized asylum process; 3. Domestic information sharing; 4. Immigration document and application authorities.” (press release)
“The United Nations Human Rights Committee is sounding the alarm over Canada’s immigration and borders bill, saying its measures may weaken refugee protection and compromise the country’s compliance with international human rights obligations,” reports Toronto Star. A coalition of civil society groups also criticized the new law.
An estimated 19,000 asylum claims filed in Canada last year will be retroactively disallowed under the new law. (Toronto Star)
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“Even as the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) aggressively pursues full membership in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the territory is maintaining a firm refusal to adopt the community’s free movement of labour policy,” reports TC Weekly News.
Similarly, in BVI, “Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has stated that the United Kingdom does not support the free movement of people into Overseas Territories such as the Virgin Islands, noting that migration policy is not solely determined by the local government,” notes BVI News.
🌎🇨🇱 Chile and Regional
Following concern in Peru over Chile’s planned border trench at the Chile-Peru border, the two countries agreed to (continue to) work together on migration issues and exchange data and information. (Infobae, EFE, Vilas Radio)
“Frank Sauerbaum, director of the Chilean National Migration Service, held a meeting with the United States Embassy in which the issue of relations with Venezuela was addressed in order to seek diplomatic mechanisms that would allow the expulsion of the migrant population in irregular condition,” reports TalCual.
“For now, there is no exact date for the expulsion of the Venezuelans, but the goal - said the Chilean official - is to advance the relationship with Venezuela as soon as possible. He announced that they will move forward with other nationalities while they resolve the situation with Venezuela. “We are going to prepare the first charter flight to Colombia for the second week of April with around 60 people,” he stated.”
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
Costa Rica and the US signed an MoU for up to 25 third-country deportations per week to the Central American nation. Costa Rica’s president “said the deal is voluntary and nonbinding, allowing Costa Rica to decide which deportees to accept or reject, including the choice of specific nationalities. Under the agreement, the U.S. government provides financial support and the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, covers the costs of deportees’ housing and meals, the Costa Rican president’s office said in a statement.” (New York Times)
Costa Rica’s ministry of national security—not the migration directorate—will manage the implementation of the agreement. Public statements reveal that the head of the migration directorate was not involved in the agreement, which was handled at the presidential level in the country. It is not clear if the Catem shelter in the south of the country would be used to receive arrivals or not, and further details have not yet been clarified. (CR Hoy, La Nación, Tico Times)
Of the 200 migrants deported to Costa Rica by the US last year, 30 remain seeking refuge in the country, reports La Teja.
Opposition politicians in Costa Rica have criticized the deal. (Delfino, Tico Times)
“Dominica has completed the framework for the standing operating procedures governing its participation in the Third Country National Arrangement (TCNA) with the United States, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced on Wednesday… Skerrit did not provide a timeline for full implementation,” notes Dominica News Online.
“The Trump administration defeated a lawsuit on Wednesday from nonprofits targeting the government’s agreement with El Salvador to send US-based individuals into confinement in their prisons,” reports Bloomberg.
“The Trump administration secretly made a deal in which Cameroon is receiving U.S. deportees from other countries, Hamed Aleaziz and Pranav Baskar of The New York Times report. The U.S. government stayed quiet when Cameroon’s government cracked down on protesters in the fall and used $30 million designated for the Cameroon office of the U.N. refugee agency as a bargaining chip, Aleaziz and Baskar report. The agreement is part of the administration’s broader use of third-country deportations.” (via The Forum Daily)
“In a memo to Secretary Rubio made public by POLITICO, officials detailed a broad strategy to steer Western Hemisphere countries away from Cuba’s medical assistance programs. The State Department is offering nations that agree to stop hiring Cuban doctors financial backing for healthcare upgrades, including telemedicine and virtual training, as well as guidance on sourcing medical workers through what the memo calls “ethical third-country recruitment.” The document, marked sensitive but unclassified, described a two-to-four-year timeline to wind down Cuba’s medical missions across the region entirely,” explains CEDA’s US-Cuba News Brief.
🌎🇪🇸 Spain and Regional
Colombian and Spanish officials met in a high-level technical meeting to “design (Global Skills Partnerships) that promote job skills training and facilitate regular, orderly, and development-oriented migration,” per a press release.
Spanish and Ecuadorian officials met to discuss “the development of pilot programs, global alliances and cooperation schemes in labor mobility.” (EFE)
Labor Migration
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Ecuador’s foreign minister Gabriela Sommerfeld “said that Ecuador is making progress in labor mobility agreements with Spain, Italy, Germany, the United States, Israel, Hungary, the United Arab Emirates and Australia,” according to Expreso.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
“Salvadoran migrants help address the shortage of bus drivers in Costa Rica” (EFE)
🇵🇦 Panama
“Panama has introduced a new residence permit for researchers, scientists and exceptional talent professionals, with a pathway to permanent residence after a two-year provisional period,” explains Fragomen.
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
A new resolution requires “that applications for renewal of temporary work permits (TT-1) for non-resident foreigners must be accompanied by a formal employment contract, registered with the Ministry of Labor, making it clear that this type of authorization does not cover informal activities,” reports Diario Libre.
“Various sectors expressed yesterday that, although they recognize the legality of the measure, it could generate adverse effects in the current context,” reports Diario Libre.
🇺🇸 United States
“A new proposed rule from the Trump administration will make it more expensive to hire H-1B visa holders and sponsor employment-based immigrants by significantly raising the required prevailing wage,” reports Forbes.
“Under Trump, legal immigration to U.S. is falling from most countries: The State Department issued about a quarter million fewer visas in the first eight months of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.” (Washington Post)
Migrants in Transit
🌎Regional
“Mexican authorities found 229 migrants on Monday packed in the back of a truck traveling through the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the first such encounter in months, marking a potential uptick in migration since President Donald Trump took office,” says CBS.
“This year, shelters in southern Mexico told the AP that in addition to receiving non-Mexican foreigners deported by Trump, they have once again begun to take in Central Americans heading north, although in very small numbers.”
“Cuba’s deepening crisis has not translated into a surge in irregular migration, with just 24 migrants arriving in Cayman so far in 2026,” reports Cayman Compass.
Borders and Enforcement
🇨🇱 Chile
The Kast administration plans to have Chile’s Migration Service “work with the tax authorities, investigative police and the Labor Ministry to conduct enforcement, levy fines and initiate expulsions… Under a proposal now before Congress, additional migration control measures would make hiring undocumented migrants a criminal offense rather than just an administrative violation, introducing possible jail time and the temporary or permanent closure of businesses,” reports Bloomberg.
🇺🇸 United States
The Border Chronicle highlights how the Trump administration has militarized the US-Mexico border.
“The federal government is installing 17 miles of buoys along the Rio Grande to impede border crossings — and plans 519 miles more, reports Martha Pskowski of Inside Climate News and The Texas Tribune. Private companies are executing the $1 billion Department of Homeland Security (DHS) project, which experts say could shift the river channel and exacerbate flooding, Pskowski reports. On the land-based barrier front, a team at The Washington Post delves into DHS’s significant border wall expansion now under way.” (via The Forum Daily)
“President Trump is seeking to lower the profile of his mass deportation effort, and has directed his top advisers to adopt a new approach on one of his central campaign promises,” reports Wall Street Journal.
“Trump Has Detained the Parents of More Than 11,000 U.S. Citizen Kids… Trump has deported moms of U.S. citizens at four times the rate of his predecessor.” (ProPublica)
The Trump administration has stacked the Board of Immigration Appeals with aligned judges, resulting in the court “significantly (narrowing) the due process and relief from deportation available for immigrants,” per NPR.
Even still, the courts system has pushed back on many Trump administration immigration policies. An MPI analysis explores resistance in the courts.
“Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey signed legislation on Wednesday to prohibit on-duty law enforcement officers, including immigration agents, from wearing masks. Federal officials have already said they will ignore the new rule, which is likely to lead to a court challenge,” reports New York Times, adding, “A similar mask ban was signed into law last week in Washington State, and Democrats have introduced bills in 17 other states that would prohibit the police from wearing masks.”
More on Migration
🇩🇲 Dominica
“Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) has suspended the processing of applications from Iranian nationals,” reports IMI.