Americas Migration Brief - November 18, 2024
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇨🇱 Chile
Chile’s Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to the 2025 budget “so that Chileans and foreigners legally in the country have priority in the public health system over irregular migrants,” reports La Tercera.
🇲🇽 Mexico
Mexico would greatly struggle to receive and reintegrate a great increase in deportees under the incoming US Trump administration’s “mass deportation” plans, reports Washington Post, adding that the local economy would suffer and organized crime would likely benefit.
🇨🇴 Colombia
El País highlights practical challenges Venezuelan migrant children face in accessing education in Colombia—despite legal access—citing two recent studies. (1, 2)
🇵🇪 Peru
An ILO report “(characterizes) Venezuelan refugee and migrant women in Peru and the barriers they face in their socioeconomic integration in the host country.”
A CARE report looks at good practices for supporting mental health and social cohesion based on the context of Venezuelan migrants in Peru.
🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands
“British Virgin Islands Governor Daniel Pruce has signed the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Act, 2024 into law paving the way for children, including those born in the Virgin Islands to non-Belonger parents, to acquire Residence Status,” reports Loop.
🇺🇸 United States
An MPI policy brief explores challenges impeding foreign qualification recognition for immigrants working in the early childhood education and care sector.
Cato explores the profile of immigrants that arrived to the US during the Biden administration, finding that they are overwhelmingly working or studying; “New immigrants have gone into industries with high numbers of job openings.”
“Can state governments hire undocumented workers?” A Georgetown Immigration Law Journal paper investigates the question, arguing, “Most policymakers have assumed that any state policy permitting undocumented people to work would violate federal law. But that assumption is wrong. While Congress prohibited employers from knowingly hiring undocumented workers in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), the federal prohibition against employing undocumented people does not specify that it applies to state government employers. That omission is crucial, because Congress must speak clearly when it seeks to intrude upon areas of traditional state authority—such as whom states may hire as their own employees.”
“Currently, a potential 200,000 Cubans are residing in the United States without the legal means to obtain permanent residency because they were released without parole documentation (e.g., they were given either Form I-220A, I-220B, or a DHS Bond under INA § 236) and are unable to adjust status under the Cuban Adjustment Act,” says CEDA’s US-Cuba News Brief.
🇨🇦 Canada
“Anti-immigrant politics is fueling hate toward South Asian people in Canada” (The Conversation)
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
A large number of South Americans have recently sought asylum in Spain: “A total of 140,652 people have requested asylum in Spain between January 1 and October 31, 2024… 38.2% are from Venezuela, 24.6% from Colombia, 6.4% from Peru,” reports Europapress.
🇨🇱 Chile
“A 72-year-old Venezuelan migrant was found dead in the Chilean area of Colchane, at a Border Observation Post,” reports El Pitazo.
🇭🇹 Haiti
“More than 20,000 people have been displaced across Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in just four days, including over 17,000 hosted in 15 displacement sites even as gang violence escalates,” says IOM, adding, “The closure of air traffic following the targeted shootings at three commercial aircraft over Port-au-Prince, restricted access to the country’s main seaport, and unsafe roads controlled by armed groups have left the metropolitan area in a state of near-total paralysis, compounding the suffering of already vulnerable populations.”
“Activists have called on Caribbean governments to halt the mass deportation of Haitians fleeing escalating gang violence that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people,” reports The Guardian.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“Four months after fleeing violence in the southeast of the country, at least 88 Mexicans have requested to extend their refugee status in Guatemala,” reports Animal Político, noting that the group, originally hundreds-strong, has received multiple 30-day renewals for temporary humanitarian stay.
“Since late October, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has stepped up its mobile assistance in southern Mexico , providing hundreds of medical consultations in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz, in response to the drastic increase in migrant caravans, who move in groups trying to reduce their exposure to violence on their way to the US border. MSF calls on authorities to provide safe migration routes and strengthen basic services available to people on the move.” (MSF)
A UNHCR fact sheet about internal displacement in Mexico notes, “At the national level, a general law on internal displacement has been pending Senate approval since 2020. At the state level, there are four laws in Chiapas, Guerrero, Sinaloa, and Zacatecas. Additionally, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Sinaloa, and Sonora have criminalized arbitrary displacement.”
🇺🇸 United States
American Immigration Council’s Immigration Impact blog calls for the Biden administration to take measures to protect vulnerable immigrants before the Trump administration is inaugurated, including to extend and redesignate TPS designations.
Trump has indicated that he “would scale back the use of TPS that covers more than 1 million immigrants” currently, reports AP. (see also New York Times)
“How Trump might target DACA recipients and other immigrant groups” (The Conversation)
A WOLA commentary looks at “five of the most notable migration and security trends at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024,” including that “Children and families made up 43 percent of migrants encountered” and that even though migrant deaths declined, “deaths as a share of the migrant population have not.”
“Rand Paul wants to bring back Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy as a Senate chair” (AP)
A Border Chronicle interview with Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S. Mexico Border Program explores “What to Expect in the Borderlands with Donald Trump,” noting, among other issues, the expected continued expansion of surveillance technologies that are “a threat to civil liberties and privacy rights everywhere and for everyone.”
Newsweek and CNN look at Trump’s plans for immigration on Day 1 and beyond. (see also last week’s AMB)
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, breaking down the details as “The Trump administration assembles an ultra-hardline border and migration team.”
🇨🇦 Canada
Canada’s asylum system has come under pressure in recent years, says The Globe and Mail, writing, “At the end of October, 2024, the number of pending cases had soared to 260,142, nearly triple the levels of 2019… If refugee claims were completely halted – an impossible scenario – it would take the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada nearly 34 months to clear its backlog.”
Asylum requests made by international students have attracted particular controversy, with claims made that “immigration consultants are ‘illegitimately advising international students to claim asylum.’” These claims have received pushback over a lack of evidence. 13,660 asylum requests were made in the first 9 months of 2024, already breaking last year’s record. “The countries with the most claims filed by students on permits and extensions this year are India, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” reports The Globe and Mail.
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
CARICOM IMPACS, IOM, and UNODC have developed an action plan to address migrant smuggling and “are collaborating to share expertise, coordinate efforts, and optimize resources to prevent and combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking, as well as manage borders in an integrated, secure manner.” (press release)
CARICOM Secretary General Carla Natalie Barnett spoke at COP29 about the issue of climate-related migration in the Caribbean, noting, “Given the realities of limited fiscal space, cooperation and partnerships are critical between CARICOM states and international and bilateral development agencies.” (CMP)
An IOM report explores environmental justice in the Caribbean and the potential role that the regional Escazú Agreement could play for addressing climate-related migration issues.
The US Safe Mobility program is expanding its scope in Costa Rica so that Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, and Ecuadorian migrants that arrived in Costa Rica before and until September 15, 2024 will be eligible for the program. (Confidencial)
Trump advisor and anti-immigration hardliner Stephen Miller may “undermine” his own anti-immigration plans, says Miami Herald: “Only by creating new, legal pathways for migrants to enter was the Biden administration able to convince Mexico to accept deportees… Eliminating those legal pathways could ultimately undermine the ability of the U.S. government to conduct tens of thousands of deportations a month to its southern neighbor.” Ending the humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans is particularly seen as a potential obstacle.
Also in regards to cooperation issues for the Trump administration, AP reports, “Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez said Guatemala is working on a strategy to respond to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's announcement that he will carry out mass deportations of immigrants.”
And in Canada, AP notes, “President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people is a top focus for Canada, its deputy prime minister said Friday, as the country plans to deal with a possible influx north. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-established a special Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations to address his administration’s concerns about another Trump presidency this week.”
🇲🇽🇭🇳 Honduras and Mexico
Honduran officials attended a forum in Mexico to discuss “migration realities,” per Tiempo.
🇬🇧🇨🇴 Colombia and United Kingdom
“Roy Barreras, the Colombian ambassador in London, announced that he has presented British authorities with a six-month action plan to discourage irregular migration of Colombians to the United Kingdom and thus prevent that country from reimposing visas as a requirement to enter that country, as that government warned last week,” reports La Silla Vacía.
🇧🇷 Brazil
Brazil’s second national migration conference (Comigrar II) included around 700 participants and “approved a total of 60 proposals for the future National Policy on Migration, Refuge and Statelessness.” Observers have called for swift action following the conference and also for the third edition of the conference to come sooner than the 10-year wait seen between the first and second editions. (MigraMundo, Jornal Dia Dia; see last week’s AMB)
🇬🇹 Guatemala
“The Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM) reported the installation of a new internal unit in charge of advising the General Directorate on gender identity, indigenous peoples, and interculturality,” reports Prensa Libre.
🇨🇱 Chile
Chilean officials, UN representatives, academics, and civil society met to discuss climate change-related migration and displacement in Chile, seeking to “‘support’ the National Roundtable on Human Mobility, the only State body that has the mandate to generate public policies in this area.” (EFE)
Labor Migration
🇸🇻 El Salvador
Since late 2021, more than 14,000 Salvadorans have benefitted from the country’s Labor Mobility Program to temporarily emigrate for work abroad. (press release)
Per a Twitter post, IOM and partners in El Salvador are launching a “Labor Mobility Roundtable” with a focus on policies to support Salvadoran migrant laborers.
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
LSE highlights the challenge of food insecurity for migrants in transit through Central America, noting the ill effects on both physical and mental health.
“In recent years, the (maritime) migration route through San Andrés (Colombia) has been wrongly promoted as a “VIP” option for people who aspire to reach the United States in search of better opportunities. However, this name hides a very different reality: dangers to life, as well as impacts on the environment and host communities due to the criminal networks that control the business and the institutions that, with what they have, try to exercise authority in the territory,” reports El Espectador, highlighting “the impact and failures in the response to the phenomenon of irregular migration through the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia.”
Borders and Enforcement
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“A report from the Department of Migration Statistics of the Dominican Republic reveals that from October to November 10, 40,223 Haitians have been repatriated.” (Diario Las Américas)
🇺🇸 United States
“Trump “stands to inherit enforcement tools from the Biden administration that are even more powerful than the policies at his disposal last time,” notes the Washington Post.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇨🇦 Canada
“Canada’s immigration minister has said “not everyone is welcome” in the country as officials brace for an increase of migrants when Donald Trump returns to the White House with a pledge to carry out mass deportations,” reports The Guardian.
🇨🇼 Curaçao
“The Coast Guard of Curaçao intercepted a vessel carrying 22 undocumented (Venezuelan) migrants near Klein Curaçao,” reports Curaçao Chronicle. (see also Crónicas del Caribe)