Americas Migration Brief - September 2, 2024
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Table of Contents
Integration and Development
🌎 Regional
An IDB paper explores the challenges of migration for early childhood across Latin America and the Caribbean, noting weakened socioemotional and cognitive development, among other issues. Family interventions and efforts to support needs at home are among the key recommendations.
🇨🇴 Colombia
A Fundación Ideas para la Paz report explores the labor inclusion of migrant women in Colombia. Recommendations include deconstructing gender and migration stereotypes, according to a blog post.
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
A Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies paper explores the experiences and challenges faced by Guyanese women working as street vendors in Trinidad and Tobago.
🇨🇦 Canada
“New program pairs Canadian doctors with foreign-trained health-care workers to help learn medical terms in English” (Globe and Mail)
🇺🇸 United States
“The charge that immigrants are taking jobs from U.S.-born Black workers has made its way from conspiracy circles to the broader public conversation this election season… The reality is that the number of U.S. jobs has continually grown, so that even as foreign-born workers have claimed a growing share of the U.S. labor market and expanded their presence across industries, it does not appear that this has occurred at the expense of U.S.-born Black workers. At the same time, immigrants’ movement across industries and geographic regions may explain why the foreign-born workforce has become more visible, creating perceptions of a displacement effect in the U.S.-born Black community that does not actually exist,” explains MPI.
“A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked on Monday a Biden administration program that could offer a path to citizenship for up to half a million undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens, ruling in favor of 16 Republican-led states that sued the administration,” reports New York Times.
Asylum, Protection, and Human Rights
🌎 Regional
At least 291 migrants have disappeared or died at sea in the Caribbean this year, already surpassing 2023’s full-year total of 247. (EFE)
🇨🇱 Chile
A Venezuelan migrant was found dead “at the inhospitable border crossing between Chile and Bolivia in the commune of Colchane,” says Emol, explaining, “This brings the number of migrants who have died on the country's northeastern border so far this year while trying to cross it clandestinely to 10.”
🇲🇽 Mexico
3 migrants died and 17 others were injured after being run over in southern Mexico. (Teleamazonas)
“The Ciudad Juárez-based human rights group Comprehensive Human Rights in Action (DHIA) revealed that for months, officials from Mexico’s migration agency (National Immigration Institute, INM) have been detaining migrants who arrive in the border city’s airport and placing them on buses bound for Villahermosa, Tabasco, in Mexico’s far south. Unaccompanied children were among those placed on the buses, in clear violation of government policy and human rights, DHIA alleged.” (Norte; via Daily Border Links)
“An intensification of violence in the southern Mexican border state of Chiapas is pushing the number of displaced and missing people to new highs. Thousands of residents have now been forced from their homes, and organized crime groups are increasingly targeting civilians,” reports InSight Crime.
🇬🇹 Guatemala
It has been a month since a group of nearly 300 Mexican nationals were displaced by violence in the south of the country, seeking shelter across the border in Guatemala. The Guatemalan government is looking to extend the temporary humanitarian status they have provided to the displaced, with 21 of those individuals reportedly in the process of seeking refugee status.
(DCA, MVS)An agreement between the Secretariat of Social Welfare and Asociación Pop No’j commits to providing greater attention to child migrant returnees. (press release)
🇧🇷 Brazil
“Almost a year after freezing its policy of granting visas to Afghans who fled the fundamentalist Taliban regime , Brazil resumes receiving and analyzing these requests and reconfigures its reception policy to delegate to civil society organizations the task of welcoming these refugees,” reports Folha.
Reactions to Brazil’s new limits on those trying to enter the country without a visa: “More than 60 migrant groups and NGOs release a statement condemning Brazil's restrictions on asylum applications: In addition to the manifesto, an event in São Paulo reinforced the civil society's chorus against setbacks in Brazilian migration policy and demanded an investigation into the death of a Ghanaian migrant who fell ill in the restricted area of Guarulhos airport” (MigraMundo; see last week’s AMB)
“One day after the new migration rules were put into effect, only ten immigrants without the required documentation landed at São Paulo International Airport in Guarulhos. The number is substantially lower than what the Federal Police (PF) had been recording in recent months,” says Agência Brasil, noting that “480 immigrants without visas are still being held” at the airport.
A widely reported suspected monkeypox case from a migrant stranded in the airport turned out to be a false alarm. (g1)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
“President Luis Abinader’s second mandate must prioritize respect for human rights and put an end to racist migration policies,” says Amnesty International. Among their concerns: “In relation to the profiling, detention and deportation of pregnant women, Amnesty International has found that the intimidating effect of such acts puts their lives and health at serious risk. According to testimonies collected, some pregnant Haitian women living on sugar cane plantations (bateyes) or those in need of postnatal care do not seek medical attention for fear of detention and deportation when visiting public hospitals or leaving their communities.”
🇭🇳 Honduras
A CGIAR report explores the nexus between climate, security, and migration in Honduras.
“Buy medicine, eat or keep walking: the painful options for sick migrants in transit in Honduras: The country gives illegal immigrants a free five-day pass, but the protection is insufficient in the face of the dangers and pressures they face, especially those with illnesses, who sacrifice their treatments to finance their journey north.” (El País)
🇺🇸 United States
The Biden administration is reopening the CHNV humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, reports CBS. The restart includes “enhanced screening process for those applying to sponsor migrants under the policy,” as the program had initially been paused due to alleged fraud among some sponsors.
“Abuse of thousands of migrants at federal immigration detention centers in Louisiana is rampant, inhumane and meets the legal definition of torture, according to a report published on Monday by a coalition of human rights groups,” notes The Guardian.
“Cronkite News covered CBP’s August 16 issuance of a new directive governing the agency’s handling of migrants’ personal belongings, which frequently get discarded or confiscated even when they are valuable or necessary for medical or legal purposes. Noah Schramm, who has worked on the belongings issue at ACLU of Arizona, characterized the policy change as an advance, but “remains concerned because the rules don’t explicitly ensure that migrants get their belongings back when they’re moved to another facility or released.”” (Cronkite News, via Daily Border Links)
A migrant that fell from a 30-foot tall section of the US-Mexico border wall had to wait “about 24 hours for help until local firefighters sawed through the border wall so first responders could transport him to the hospital in Tucson,” reports Arizona Luminaria.
A Strauss Center report on asylum processing at the US-Mexico border explains that under the current border restrictions, “CBP has continued to process CBP One appointments at ports of entry but has stopped processing walk ups. However, in certain cities, CBP has processed asylum seekers without a CBP One appointment if they are undergoing a severe medical emergency.”
A data-laden WOLA analysis looks at migration, asylum-seeking, and enforcement trends, arguing that with the current asylum restrictions and regional enforcement efforts, “The present reduction is a short-term phenomenon. It is likely to reverse in a matter of months as the conditions and root causes for migration remain the same. The administration and allied candidates should have no illusions that the reduction is consequence-free. The choices that brought it about carry a painful human cost.”
WOLA’s Adam Isacson highlights stories related to the US-Mexico border and human rights at the Weekly Border Update, reporting that “Amid turmoil and repression following the government’s illegitimate claim to have won July 28 presidential elections, there is no massive wave of people fleeing Venezuela, at least not yet. However, numbers do appear to have risen slightly.”
Migratory Institutions and Regional and Bilateral Cooperation
🌎 Regional
“The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is on the cusp of unveiling a transformative Regional Migration Policy, designed to address emerging migration trends and longstanding challenges across the region… the draft will be presented to CARICOM leaders in February 2025,” reports Newsroom.
Colombia, Panama, and the US released a joint statement committing to coordinated efforts to combat irregular migration. The statement also “committed to incentivizing dialogue with others across the region to reduce irregular migration, by increasing safe, orderly and humane migration alternatives.”
Officials from the three countries met last week, per El Tiempo.
Panama deported 30 Ecuadorians on Thursday as the second US-funded flight from the Darien Gap, per Reuters.
“The U.S. is seeking to coordinate migration policies with several Latin American countries to respond to an increase in migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Last week Brazil tightened transit regulations for people from several Asian countries, while Panama has conducted repatriation flights for migrants, financed by the U.S. (Reuters)” (via Latin America Daily Briefing; see last week’s AMB for more details)
“Roger Mojica, the new director of Panama’s Migration Service (SMN), told local media that the country’s National Border Service (SENAFRONT) force is working with the U.S. government on “a plan to improve the profiling and biometrics of migrants” passing through the Darién route.” (Eco; via Daily Border Links)
🇧🇴🇨🇱 Chile and Bolivia
Chilean and Bolivian officials met to discuss migration and border cooperation. (La Razón, La Tercera)
🇧🇿🇬🇹 Guatemala and Belize
The prime minister of Belize and president of Guatemala met to discuss migration, among other topics. (BBN)
🇨🇺🇧🇿 Belize and Cuba
Cuban and Belizean officials met to discuss migration and information sharing between the two countries. (Channel 5)
Labor Migration
🇨🇦 Canada
“In line with the government’s continued focus to reduce the temporary resident population in Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada has announced several restrictions to the Low-Wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” reports Fragomen. In addition, “the government is considering a reduction to the number of permanent residents Canada accepts each year — a potentially major policy change,” notes CBC (see also CIC News).
“In another reversal, the government said employers will no longer be allowed to hire more than 10 per cent of their total workforce through the (Temporary Foreign Worker) program.” (CBC)
“Advocates for migrants, employers unimpressed with temporary foreign worker changes” (CBC)
Insight on the impact on countries of origin: “Jamaica's Ministry of Labour says it has taken note of the announcement and will be taking steps to safeguard the almost 9,000 workers that go to Canada on the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme.” (Radio Jamaica News)
“As of August 28, temporary residents in Canada on a visitor visa are no longer permitted to apply for a job-supported work permit from within Canada,” reports CIC News.
🇺🇸 United States
An IFP paper examines “the Exchange Visitor Skills List, a little-known restriction on high-skill immigration to the United States,” finding that “Over the last decade, an average of between 35,000 and 44,000 high-skill visitors per year have been subject to the home residency requirement via the Skills List,” thus preventing (or delaying) their potential migration.
“Here we present evidence that the Skills List is outdated, misdirected, and opaque. It is outdated because it is built with a rationale and method that are half a century old and reflect ideas about high-skill migration that are no longer current. It is misdirected because it erratically targets countries independently of their level of development, and targets fields independently of whether they are “required” in the home country by any clear criterion. And it is opaque because there are no prior published estimates of the number of high-skill migrants affected by the List; we provide the first estimates.”
Migrants in Transit
🌎 Regional
Efecto Cocuyo explores the situation at the borders of Venezuela with Colombia and Brazil, noting an uptick in migration since the July 28th election, and particularly an increase in migrants with a profile of seeking international protection.
An R4V report on Venezuelan migration during the second quarter of 2024 finds significant net exits of Venezuelans from Colombia, Peru, and Chile, while Brazil received more than double the number of Venezuelans that left during the period. Some of the movement patterns may be explained by migrants having returned to Venezuela temporarily to vote in the July 28th election.
“Venezuelans who hold positive views of the future and have more regular access to electricity indicate less desire to emigrate, while individual and communal resources like social capital and individual resources like access to US dollars have no measurable impact,” according to a survey of 100 residents of Santa Rita and Maracaibo, Venezuela. (Journal on Migration and Human Security)
Borders and Enforcement
🇵🇦 Panama
As part of the “Arcángel Miguel” operation, “units of the National Border Service of Panama found this Saturday a camp in the middle of the Darien jungle, the natural border between Colombia and Panama , where food and services were being sold "illegally" to irregular migrants crossing this dangerous jungle,” reports EFE.
🇺🇸 United States
“Mass Deportations Could Create a US Recession” (AULA Blog)
“The bipartisan border and asylum compromise Vice President Kamala Harris said she’d support would include millions of dollars for wall construction, report Alex Thompson and Hans Nichols of Axios,” explains the National Immigration Forum’s The Forum Daily.
More on Migration
🌎 Regional
A new volume of Revista Justicia(s) explores connections between climate change and migration in Latin America.