Americas Migration Brief - November 25, 2024
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🇧🇷 Brazil
Operação Horizonte is beginning its 12th phase, extended until February 2025. The São Paulo-based program aims “to facilitate the assistance and regularization of documents for immigrants who find themselves in a vulnerable situation in the capital of São Paulo and surrounding areas,” per MigraMundo.
Pathways to facilitate regularization for Mercosur countries and Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries have been used 64,814 times between January 2023 and August 2024. Nearly 40% of beneficiaries have been Bolivian. (press release)
🇨🇴 Colombia
“The Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publish a detailed guide for Venezuelan migrants in refugee status, so that they know how to access a temporary visa that allows them to work legally in Colombia while their request for asylum is being processed,” reports La Opinión. (see also El Nacional)
“Urban LGBTQI+ inclusive houses in Bogotá offer a transformative model of care and community building for queer migrants” (Nature)
🇵🇦 Panama
Panama’s regularization process for migrants whose visas expired on or after March 13, 2020 is being extended once again, now available until December 31, 2024. (Fragomen)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“Three Dominican workers' unions are developing a work plan that includes the demands of migrant workers living in the country,” per ILO.
🇵🇪 Peru
“USAID announced a new partnership with UNICEF to support the inclusive education of Venezuelan migrant and refugee children in Peru… the project will endeavor to secure access to education and formalization of legal status for migrant children, adolescents, and household members,” per a press release.
A World Bank report explores Venezuelan migration and development in Peru, covering issues such as documentation, labor market integration, financial inclusion, and access to healthcare and education.
🇺🇸 United States
Immigration Impact reviews the outcomes of local- and state-level ballot measures related to migration from the elections earlier this month. Some policies look to target migrants, while others seek to promote their inclusion.
🇨🇦 Canada
“One in five immigrants who come to Canada ultimately leave the country within 25 years, with about one-third of those people moving on within the first five years,” reports The Canadian Press, noting, “Nearly half of onward migrants since 1982 were economic immigrants: people who applied for permanent residency and it was granted based on their possession of skills that are valued in the labour market. The Institute for Canadian Citizenship is calling on the federal government to develop strategies on how to better retain immigrants.”
CIC News highlights the Canada Connects program, which aims to support immigrant integration by connecting new arrivals with a Canadian citizen or long-time community member.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
“Aid groups in Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras say they are unprepared and under-resourced to adequately address the needs of children on the move, especially the growing number of non-Spanish-speaking children,” reports NACLA, explaining the unique challenges faced by the increasing number of migrant children migrating through the Darien Gap and Central America. The article highlights mental health challenges, in particular: “symptoms of post-traumatic stress are commonplace among children after they come out of the jungle.”
🇲🇽 Mexico
Melissa Ayala expresses concern about the impacts of Mexico’s judicial reform on migration: “Mexico’s judiciary plays a pivotal role in protecting the rights of migrants, many of whom are women fleeing gender-based violence. These women often face intersecting vulnerabilities, including exploitation, sexual violence, and discrimination. The judiciary’s ability to uphold its rights depends on its independence and capacity to apply international human rights standards. Popular elections, however, risk introducing biases that prioritize nationalist or anti-migrant sentiments over legal protections.” (Wilson Center)
🇨🇱 Chile
“More than a hundred migrant and human rights organizations signed a letter in defense of the human rights of migrants in Chile,” reports Diario UChile. Advocates are concerned about a bill to modify the country’s migration law that would, among other things, establish new reasons to reject or revoke residency and create obstacles for migrants’ access to education and healthcare.
🇨🇴 Colombia
Despite the historic peace agreement with the FARC in 2016, violence-induced internal displacement in Colombia has not slowed: “While more than 130,000 people were forced to flee in Colombia in 2016, the number of people newly displaced will exceed 260,000 in 2024, according to estimates by the Norwegian Refugee Council.” (press release)
🇺🇾 Uruguay
A Legal Citizenship and Nationality working group is planning recommendations to reform Uruguay’s immigration regulations in an effort to eradicate statelessness, reports Búsqueda, highlighting the distinction between “legal” and “natural” citizenship.
🇺🇸 United States
“Asylum seekers are having less and less success at their individual hearings before an Immigration Judge. The latest case-by-case Court records for October 2024 show asylum grant rates had declined to just 35.8 percent,” reports TRAC.
A coalition of legislators and activists gathered to call for TPS for Ecuador. (press release)
“The House this week passed a bill that would help evacuate and resettle additional Afghans who assisted the U.S. and now are threatened, Siyar Sirat of Amu TV reports. ‘The passage of the CARE Authorization Act of 2024 further underscores the commitment made by the U.S. government to safeguard those who served shoulder-to-shoulder with our personnel,’ Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada), who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. The bill passed in strong, bipartisan fashion, 334-63,” explains The National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily, adding, “Permanence in the U.S. for our Afghan allies — and stronger security vetting — still waits, even though legislation such as the Afghan Adjustment Act also has support from Republicans and Democrats.”
“Since 2018, multiple US presidential administrations have used the discretion provision – an obscure quirk of US law – to justify wide-reaching changes in asylum policy that run counter to international law. The grant of asylum in the US has long been at the discretion of the adjudicator, whereas under international law, states are required to grant asylum to those who meet the legal definition and do not trigger exclusion clauses… With no realistic hope of Congressional action, US presidents have started to rely on the discretion provision as a “loophole,” for instance by directing adjudicators to use discretion to deny asylum for acts such as irregular entry and transit through a third country,” explains Alice Farmer in a paper at SSRN.
The second Trump administration will be characterized by volatility, hypocrisy, and cruelty, writes Austin Kocher at his Substack.
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, including looking at CBP’s October border data.
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
A Quito Process joint declaration adopted last week in Costa Rica “(commits) to promoting inclusive initiatives that guarantee the dignity, security, integration and non-discrimination of migrants and refugees seeking protection, assistance and an opportunity for integration in order to rebuild their lives and contribute to the communities that host them,” per IOM. An IOM-UNHCR joint statement adds, “IOM and UNHCR also welcome the announcement by the Government of Ecuador that it will assume the Pro Tempore Presidency of the Process in 2025, and the incorporation of Guatemala as a new member of this important forum.”
Chilean president Gabriel Boric called for greater regional and global collaboration on migration, among other issues, at the G20 summit in Brazil. (Cooperativa)
US president Joe Biden discussed migration, among other topics, during separate meetings with the presidents of Mexico and Canada on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. (1, 2)
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has indicated that Mexico would accept deportations of Mexican nationals from the US under the Trump administration and that the country has “a plan for it;” however, she asserted, “we do not agree with migrants being treated like criminals,” reports El País. Sheinbaum’s administration “is already working on documents to demonstrate with hard data the contributions of the Mexican diaspora to the economy of both countries,” notes El País.
“President-elect Donald Trump’s team is gaming out an aggressive strategy toward Latin America that will be a crucial element to plans to deport migrants at large scale… The strategy amounts to relying heavily on Mexico, as the US has traditionally done, to control migration to their northern border, bringing back agreements that barred migrants from seeking asylum in the US if they passed through certain countries, and working closely with Panama to stop the flow of migrants through the Darien Gap,” reports CNN.
“The new Trump administration not only will focus on the border but also will seek negotiation with countries in Latin America to implement measures to slow migration, according to Trump advisor Carlos Trujillo, reports Carmen Sesin of NBC News. Trujillo said potential tactics include economic support, blockade options, and in some cases direct diplomacy agreements.” (via The National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily)
🇺🇸🇵🇦 Panama and United States
Panama conducted a deportation flight to India and Vietnam under the auspices of the MoU signed with the US earlier this year. This is one of the few deportation flights under this program that has been destined for a country other than Colombia or Ecuador. (Telemetro; see AMB 11/11/24)
🇨🇳🇭🇳 Honduras and China
Honduras and China plan to expand cooperation on migration-related issues, including migration management and institutional capacity. (La Tribuna)
🇩🇴🇭🇹 Haiti and Dominican Republic
“Haitian Prime Minister calls for renewed dialogue with Dominican Republic” (Dominican Today)
🇯🇵🇵🇪 Peru and Japan
The president of Peru and prime minister of Japan met to discuss migration, among other topics, eliminating visa requirements for Peruvians to travel to Japan. (La República)
🇲🇽 Mexico
Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) and Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar) will both see their budgets cut next year, reports Expansión Política.
Labor Migration
🇨🇦 Canada
“On Friday, November 15, the Manitoba government announced a three-year pilot to address labour market shortages in the rural west-central region,” reports CIC News, noting that the program is meant to respond “to local needs for skilled workers in rural Manitoba.”
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
R4V’s movements report for the third quarter of 2024 finds net positive entries of Venezuelan migrants in countries such as Brazil and Chile, compared to a surplus of exits from countries such as Colombia and Peru.
🇲🇽 Mexico
“About 1,500 migrants formed a new caravan Wednesday in southern Mexico, hoping to walk or catch rides to the U.S. border… Some say they are hoping to reach the United States before Donald Trump’s inauguration in January,” reports AP, noting, “Usually the caravans stop or fall apart within 150 miles.”
“Migrants crossing through Mexico are rushing to reach the U.S. border ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, fearing his promises of stricter immigration policies. Humanitarian organizations are struggling to provide aid amid escalating numbers, reports El País.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Cronkite News highlights Costa Rica in the journey north for migrants that passed through the Darien Gap en route to the US. (see also AMB 11/4/24)
🇭🇳 Honduras
César Castillo of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) warns Hondudiario that stranded Hondurans internally displaced by the recent tropical storm Sara may look to emigrate. The storm “affected more than 200,000 people in Honduras, with a total of 57,000 families affected, 17,667 homeless and around 2,300 communities cut off,” notes ContraCorriente.
🇪🇨 Ecuador
A probability-based, representative IOM survey of 13 cities and surrounding cantons in Ecuador found that an estimated 740,000 Ecuadorians want to migrate to another city in the country, with labor opportunities, family reunification, and violence and insecurity the leading motivators, per El Universo.
Borders and Enforcement
🇺🇸 United States
“There are three breaking points that could end public support for Trump’s deportation plans,” writes Atlantic Council’s Thomas S. Warrick: if the Trump administration uses “mass detention camps,” if they conduct public roundups of migrants such as at homes or schools, or if they break the law by ignoring or steamrolling legal proceedings to conduct deportations.
Note, too, that while there is some public support for certain types of deportations, the “mass deportation” Trump promised on the campaign trail does not have majority support. (see AMB 10/28/24 for the nuances of this issue)
“Texas is offering a parcel of rural ranchland along the U.S.-Mexico border to use as a staging area for potential mass deportations,” reports AP.
Last week, Trump “shared a social media post indicating that he'd declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry out deportations,” reports CBS, noting “While longstanding federal law generally prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement — which includes immigration arrests and deportations — a few rarely invoked statutory exceptions exist.” Any such efforts are likely to be challenged in court, though.
Some Pentagon officials are expressing exasperation and referring to the plans as “insanity,” reports The Intercept.
An interview with Jessica Pishko at The Border Chronicle explores “how sheriffs might assist mass deportations, while others resist as they did during the first Trump administration.”
Dara Lind breaks down at New York Times the reality of what mass deportation could actually mean or look like: “No executive order can override the laws of physics and create, in the blink of an eye, staff and facilities where none existed. The constraints on a mass deportation operation are logistical more than legal. Deporting one million people a year would cost an annual average of $88 billion, and a one-time effort to deport the full unauthorized population of 11 million would cost many times that — and it’s difficult to imagine how long it would take.”
“For most immigrants — those who haven’t been apprehended shortly after their arrival — deportation isn’t a quick process. It generally entails the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, to prove that the immigrants lack legal status and that they can’t apply for relief (such as asylum).” An additional challenge is the establishment of agreements with countries to accept deportation flights of their nationals.
Bloomberg considers how employers are bracing for work-based immigration raids under the incoming Trump administration, noting that “stepped up I-9 audits… could be just as disruptive for many companies.”
“The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. federal government for information on how authorities carry out deportations — an issue of increasing concern for migration advocates seeking to protect people from the incoming government’s threats of mass deportations, reports the Washington Post.” (via Latin America Daily Briefing)
🇹🇨 Turks and Caicos
Turks and Caicos’ new Border Force (see AMB 11/11/24) apprehended 92 irregular migrants, mainly from Haiti, during “a series of district checks across Providenciales,” reports Magnetic Media.
🇨🇦 Canada
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government has faced criticism for not detailing how it will guard against a possible influx of migrants from the U.S., said Ottawa plans to boost security at the border with extra officers and vehicles,” reports The Globe and Mail.
More on Migration
🌎 Regional
An IDB report explores remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024, finding, “After several years of high growth during the pandemic, 2024 will see a slowdown in the growth of remittance flows.”
Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations could greatly reduce remittances to the region and cause serious economic issues in various countries, particularly in Central America, warns Americas Quarterly, adding that a floated tax on remittances could also generate issues.
🇪🇸 Spain
“Spain will no longer allow expired Venezuelan passports for immigration procedures” (Efecto Cocuyo)