Americas Migration Brief - May 4, 2026
The AMB will be on hiatus until May 25 while I focus on my PhD comprehensive exams and close out the second year of the program.
Welcome to the Americas Migration Brief! If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing with a friend or colleague.
Se puede acceder aquí a una versión en español del boletín traducida por inteligencia artificial.
Consulte aqui uma versão em português do boletim traduzida por inteligência artificial.
Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
A Notre Dame Keough School policy brief examines reintegration for returnees in Northern Central America: “Returnees are increasingly being displaced to economic hubs or ‘transit’ municipalities rather than returning to their specific communities of origin… municipalities that were not traditional sending communities are becoming de facto reception centers, forced to integrate returnee populations with no prior social ties to the territory, and without the necessary budgets or institutional preparation to assist reintegration.” Recommendations include to “Establish a coordinated, multilevel governance framework.”
A paper at Revista de Estudios Sociales investigates Venezuelan migrants’ employment in platform-based delivery work, such as with Rappi and PedidosYa, in Colombia and Peru, including, “recent legislative developments, their effects on migrants’ socio-economic inclusion amid ongoing regularization processes, and the proposals put forward by civil society leaders and trade unions.”
🇧🇷 Brazil
“Brazil is home to just over 2 million international immigrants, including residents, temporary workers, refugees, and asylum seekers, from 200 different nationalities, present in all states of the federation. Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Angolans are the most prominent groups,” reports Agência Brasil, citing the 12th Annual Report of OBMigra, based on official statistics.
“Regarding the main nationalities, in 2025, the formal Brazilian labor market had more than 201,000 Venezuelan workers. Haitians came next, with a growth of 20.4% between 2023 and 2025, with a total of 51,200 Haitians formally employed last year. Cubans appear in third position with 30,700 formal workers. However, the document highlights that many immigrants with higher education suffer from status inconsistency and occupy low-skilled, low-paying jobs, consequently earning lower incomes. Given the situation, the report recommends that public authorities, among other things, promote the recognition of diplomas, facilitate the placement of qualified workers, and reduce institutional and educational barriers in order to improve job placement,” reports Agência Brasil.
Local news highlights how the states of Acre and Mato Grosso do Sul are frequently used by immigrants for entry into Brazil—in addition to Roraima—according to the report. (Ac24horas, Campo Grande News)
“More than 10,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in Brazil since the collapse of the Afghan government in 2021, when the Taliban took power. Among them, former high-ranking officials face difficulties rebuilding their careers in the country,” reports Folha, highlighting, “structural shortcomings: lack of Portuguese language instruction, recognition of diplomas and mental health support.”
The border state of Roraima will receive R$115 million from the Brazilian federal government to support the reception of Venezuelan migrants. “The process had been pending before the Supreme Federal Court since 2018,” reports Agência Brasil.
🇨🇼 Curaçao
“The Government of Curaçao reported that it is in an advanced stage of preparation for the launch of Rib’e Lugá, a registration and legalization program designed to regularize the status of undocumented migrants residing on the island.” (El Regional Del Zulia; see AMB 3/30/26)
“A large majority of residents in Curaçao support the legalization of undocumented migrants, provided the process includes strict screening, clear criteria, and transparency,” reports Curaçao Chronicle, citing focus group-based research by Human Rights Defense Curaçao.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
A joint statement from a coalition of civil society organizations calls for Costa Rica to introduce a “series of reforms to improve the integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Costa Rica. These reforms include strengthening institutional coordination, improving asylum and regularization procedures, removing barriers to formal employment, and supporting individuals in vulnerable conditions.”
🇦🇷 Argentina
A REMHU paper “aims, on the one hand, to offer a general theoretical-conceptual model to explain the functioning of the main pathways to regularization for resident migrant populations; and, on the other hand, to apply this framework to a dynamic understanding of the regularization policy for the Venezuelan population in Argentina (2016-2024).”
🇺🇸 United States
With a new decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals, “The Trump administration is making it easier to deport immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA,” reports NPR.
🇨🇦 Canada
“With so many temporary residents running out of legal status this year, Ottawa has been urged to immediately release details on an announced program that’s meant to grant permanent status to migrant workers in limbo — and make sure the process is fair and inclusive,” reports Toronto Star.
“Government data estimated there were about 2,676,000 temporary residents including asylum seekers in Canada as of the end of March; about 1,938,805 temporary study, work and visitor permits are expected to expire by the end of this year. Expiring permits don’t equal the number of people running out of status because a temporary resident can hold multiple permits.”
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎Regional
“The Pacific route was one of several that emerged early last year for people returning to South America, including another on Panama’s Caribbean coast. But the Pacific route was cheaper and attracted the most vulnerable migrants, drawing particular concern from aid organisations. The region it traverses is one of wide beaches surrounded by dense jungle. On the Colombian side of the border, where Juradó and Bahía Solano are located, the area has long been affected by the country’s multifaceted and long-running armed conflict… Most of those returning to South America have been Venezuelans, but people from Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and elsewhere have also joined the movement. The new routes intended to circumvent the Darién proved dangerous in their own right, with reports of shipwrecks and people often being stranded in remote areas with little support,” reports The New Humanitarian, noting, “Official data only records 288 migrants arriving in Juradó and Bahía Solano between April 2025 and March 2026, but local authorities and NGOs told The New Humanitarian the real number was much higher.”
Relatedly, a report from Colombia’s procuradoría general examines return migration to (or through) the country.
🇨🇱 Chile
The recent circular to clarify rules on access to birthright citizenship heightens the risk of statelessness. “Lawyers argue that this instruction has ‘constitutional flaws’” and could be illegal, reports El Mostrador. (see last week’s AMB)
🇪🇨 Ecuador
3iS estimates through online survey research that Ecuador’s internally displaced population rose from 232,968 in 2024 to 368,847 in 2025. They find that 16% of cases include multiple displacement events, and that violence and armed groups are leading drivers of displacement.
🇭🇳 Honduras
“Approximately 423,845 people—4.5% of the Honduran population—have experienced internal displacement at some point in their lives due to violence, according to the Permanent Household Survey of Multiple Purposes (EPHPM 2024)... a significant proportion of this population—approximately 38.5%—has faced a double hardship, having been forced to flee due to both violence and disasters.” (UNHCR)
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
A CISAS, CETCAM, and IMATKUMN report examines challenges faced by displaced, Indigenous Nicaraguan women in Costa Rica. About half of those surveyed live in precarious sites, and many face challenges in terms of access to health care. The report additionally highlights concerns surrounding gender-based violence.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“El País investigated the disappearance of 83 migrants off the coast of Chiapas between September and December 2024. Families of the missing have received suspicious signals suggesting that some may have been abducted and could still be alive.” (via WOLA’s Border Update)
🇧🇷 Brazil
An IOM and Rede Clima report “brings together Brazilian research on human mobility related to climate change. It provides an updated overview of national scientific evidence and examines how environmental, social and economic factors influence human mobility in the country… Beyond compiling existing research, this collection underscores the need to strengthen a solid and interdisciplinary agenda capable of informing public policies grounded in climate justice and human rights, and of addressing the challenges posed by the climate crisis in Brazil.”
A pregnant Egyptian woman previously stranded in Guarulhos airport was taken to the hospital due to complications in her pregnancy, reports Metrópoles. The Human Rights, Minorities and Racial Equality Committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies wrote to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, calling for “urgent action” and “treatment of the case from a humanitarian perspective,” per g1. (see last week’s AMB)
🇵🇦 Panama
“The Government of Panama, through the Ministry of Environment (MiAmbiente) and with the support of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (the PDD), convened a technical validation workshop on the draft National Protocol on Planned Relocation. One week later, on 13 April 2026, the draft protocol was officially launched for public consultation, marking a major milestone in Panama’s efforts to strengthen preparedness, governance, and protection in situations where planned relocation may be required in the context of disasters, climate change, and environmental degradation.” (PDD)
🇦🇷 Argentina
Former UN independent expert Pablo Ceriani analyzes in-depth on LinkedIn the Milei administration’s Decree No. 366/2025, which he asserts “unconstitutionally and undemocratically reformed the Argentine Migration Law,” creating more restrictionist policy.
🇺🇸 United States
“Denny Adan Gonzalez is the 18th Reported ICE Detention Death of 2026” (Austin Kocher)
The Trump administration is considering more than doubling the current 7,500 cap for refugee resettlement to bring in more White South Africans that claim race-based persecution. “The only refugees other than white South Africans to enter this fiscal year were three Afghans,” notes Reuters. (relatedly, see AMBs 2/10/25 and 6/2/25)
“Even as Trump looks to further ramp up the entry of South Africans, an internal U.S. government email reviewed by Reuters showed that at least four refugees already in the U.S. have returned to South Africa.”
“A federal judge in New York on Friday blocked the Trump administration from revoking temporary legal protections [TPS] next week for Yemeni migrants,” reports New York Times. (see AMB 4/20/26)
“The decision in Colorado to charge an immigration officer with assault after a protester was grabbed by the neck and pulled across a street could test the boundaries of immunity provisions for federal agents as states scrutinize the use of force under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown,” reports AP.
“The Trump administration on Tuesday issued new rules for visa applications that could limit asylum claims in the United States, ordering diplomatic missions to ask applicants for nonimmigrant visas if they fear returning home to their country — and to refuse U.S. travel documents for those who say yes,” reports Washington Post.
“67%: The share of the Trump administration’s newly hired immigration judges who have no relevant legal experience in immigration listed in their public biographies,” notes Austin Kocher at his Substack.
A public comment by Niskanen Center’s Cecilia Esterline critiques a proposed Trump administration rule to delay work authorization eligibility for asylum applicants. “USCIS and Congress should collaborate to create a plan to process asylum applications more efficiently and identify meritless cases sooner. If frivolous asylum claims did not provide several years of removal protections and accompanying informal labor market access before a substantive case review is completed, the benefits of filing without merit would decrease considerably. Yet, making that a reality would require modernizing asylum case processing overall to ensure that valid claims are identified swiftly, that those who meet the standard receive durable protections without delay, and that invalid claims are sorted out quickly to minimize undesirable economic and security vulnerabilities.”
“Washington state says Geo Group refuses to let health inspectors into detention facility” (AP)
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Border Update, noting, “The House approved, and President Trump signed, a bill funding all of DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol in 2026. Both chambers’ Republican majorities are now working on a bill that would fund ICE and Border Patrol unconditionally through 2029; they hope to pass it using a rarely invoked procedure that would avoid the filibuster and allow it to pass without Democratic votes.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎🇺🇸 United States and Regional
“NPR interviews 5 of the 15 people from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru whom the U.S. deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo this month. The five said they’d rather return to danger in their home countries than remain “effectively cut off in a country they have no links to, and whose language they do not speak,” Livingstone reports.” (via The Forum Daily; see last week’s AMB)
The DRC government has reportedly contacted the countries of origin “regarding their possible repatriation.” (EFE)
🇨🇴🇭🇳 Honduras and Colombia
Honduras has “launched a new project focused on detecting fraudulent documents and strengthening migration intelligence… The initiative, called Institutional and Operational Strengthening in the Directorate of Fraudulent Documents and Migration Intelligence , is part of the X Joint Commission (COMIXTA) between Honduras and Colombia for the period 2025–2027, a bilateral mechanism that has served as a platform for the exchange of technical knowledge in key areas of the State,” reports Infobae.
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Ecuador and Germany signed an MoU “which allows Ecuadorian citizens to access specialized employment opportunities in the European country,” per Primicias. The framework includes comprehensive training and recognition of professional qualifications to ensure competitive labor market access.
El Comercio summarizes Ecuador’s several circular migration deals to send citizens to temporarily work across the globe through formal channels. The vast majority of these opportunities are in the agricultural sector.
🇧🇸🇨🇺 Cuba and The Bahamas
Cuban and Bahamian officials met to discuss migration and consular affairs. (press release)
Labor Migration
🇺🇸 United States
“Doctors From Countries Under Travel Ban Now Allowed to Stay in U.S.: In a reversal, the Trump administration has exempted foreign physicians from a visa application freeze that was pushing many out of jobs in underserved areas.” (New York Times)
Migrants in Transit
🇧🇷 Brazil
A report by Brazil’s intelligence agency has highlighted Brazil as a “strategic point” for irregular international migration, reports Folha, examining dynamics across several states.
🇨🇦 Canada
Canada has expanded access to citizenship to anyone who can prove a direct Canadian-born ancestor, even several generations back. The new policy is attracting interest from US-born descendents of Canadians who are now looking to move north, per New York Times.
Borders and Enforcement
🇺🇸 United States
“A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration’s policy of making many of the immigrants it is trying to deport subject to mandatory detention,” reports CBS.
“DHS is increasingly forcing local police to work with ICE. Louisiana now makes it a crime for police to refuse ICE cooperation. Florida created a board to punish officials who don’t comply with ICE. Texas forced nearly all sheriffs to become immigration enforcers. And the crackdown on resisting ICE is spreading,” says Pirate Wire Services.
“The United States is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on surveillance to identify and detain unlawful immigrants, report Shane Shifflett and Hannah Critchfield of The Wall Street Journal, with illustrations by Alexandra Citrin-Safadi. The upgraded systems give thousands of federal agents access to the private information and data of more than 300 million people, including U.S. citizens.” (via The Forum Daily)
“The Trump administration is subjecting broad categories of immigrants applying for legal immigration benefits to enhanced security checks,” reports CBS.
More on Migration
🇵🇾 Paraguay
IMI examines investment-based permanent residency in Paraguay.
🇦🇷 Argentina
“Argentina Appoints CBI Agency Director, Two Weeks After Killing Tender: Eleven months after creating the agency, Argentina puts someone at the desk. The program itself remains undefined.” (IMI)
!Muy Buena suerte!