Venezuelans seeking to enter the United States illegally will be deported to Mexico; New legal pathway created for some Venezuelans
WASHINGTON — Today, as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing work to build a fair, orderly, and secure immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is announcing joint actions with Mexico to reduce the number of people arriving at our southwestern border and create a more orderly and safe process for people fleeing the humanitarian and economic crisis in Venezuela.
Nearly four times as many Venezuelans as last year attempted to cross our southern border, placing their lives in the hands of ruthless smuggling organizations. Meanwhile, irregular migration from northern Central America has fallen by a quarter from the level recorded last year. The actions the United States and Mexico are announcing today aim to address the most acute irregular migration and reduce pressure on the cities and states that host these people.
Effective today, Venezuelans who enter the United States between ports of entry, without authorization, will be returned to Mexico. At the same time, the United States and Mexico are stepping up coordinated law enforcement operations to target smuggling organizations and bring them to justice. This campaign will include new migration checkpoints, additional resources and personnel, joint targeting of human smuggling organizations and expanded information sharing related to transit nodes, hotels, hiding places and places of transit. The United States also plans to offer additional security assistance to help regional partners address migration challenges in the Darien Gap.
Our comprehensive effort to reduce irregular migration of Venezuelans also includes a new process to legally and safely bring up to 24,000 eligible Venezuelans to the United States. The United States will not implement this process without Mexico maintaining in place its independent but parallel effort to accept the return of Venezuelan nationals who circumvent this process and attempt to enter irregularly.
“These actions make it clear that there is a legal and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and legal entry is the only way,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said. “Those who attempt to illegally cross the southern border into the United States will be returned to Mexico and will no longer be eligible for this process in the future. Those who follow the legal process will have the opportunity to travel safely to the United States and become eligible to work here.
This effort aims to strengthen border security by reducing the number of Venezuelans seeking to enter the United States illegally. It stems from the success of the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program, which reduced border flows by creating an orderly process for the entry of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
DHS will closely monitor the implementation of this process, as well as Mexico’s independent and parallel efforts, and may consider expanding it in the future.
To be eligible, Venezuelans must:
Venezuelans should not travel to Mexico to enter the United States.
Venezuelans approved through this process will be permitted on a case-by-case basis to fly to the United States directly to a domestic port of entry, relieving border pressure. Once in the United States, they will be able to apply for work authorization.
DHS will administer the process, working with communities and other partners. Anyone based in the United States with legal status, including representatives of businesses or other organizations or entities, can support a potential recipient from Venezuela. A supporter must demonstrate that they have the means to provide financial and other support to the recipient. In the coming days, potential supporters can ask DHS to support eligible Venezuelans through www.uscis.gov/Venezuela. Individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to apply as supporters must declare the financial support of the organization and they must pass security checks to protect against exploitation and abuse.
The Department of State will also engage in a strong messaging campaign in the region to communicate about this new process and the consequences of attempting irregular entry.
More information will be available at www.uscis.gov/Venezuela in the coming days.
Today’s actions are part of the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce irregular migration throughout the Western Hemisphere, including through the U.S. strategy to address the root causes of migration and multinational Los Angeles declaration on migration and protection. The process announced today is one more element of the United States’ multilateral approach to addressing irregular migration that impacts Latin American countries, and it is built on the combination of increased enforcement of law in response to irregular immigration with the development of safe and legal pathways to qualify people.
Venezuelans have been migrating throughout the hemisphere since approximately 2014, but the level of irregular migration by Venezuelans has increased significantly throughout the hemisphere in recent years. There are currently 2.4 million Venezuelans residing in Colombia. More than 25% of the Venezuelan population has left the country. The United States is seeing an increase in the number of Venezuelans encountered at our border over the past two years, which has surged in recent months. Average monthly unique encounters by Venezuelan nationals at the land border totaled 15,494 in fiscal year 2022, rising to more than 25,000 in August and 33,000 in September, compared to a monthly average of 127 unique encounters in fiscal year 2014-2019. It should be noted that unique encounters of Venezuelan nationals increased by 293% between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022, while unique encounters of all other nationalities combined increased by 45%. Panama currently sees more than 3,000 people, mostly Venezuelan nationals, entering its territory every day from Colombia via the Darien jungle.
The United States, in partnership with Mexico, is also committed to further expanding legal labor pathways for Mexican and northern Central American nationals. Last year, the United States doubled the number of H-2 visas issued to nationals of the northern Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Today, we are announcing the largest H-2B supplement in history for fiscal year 2023: nearly 65,000 new H-2B visas, including 20,000 reserved for nationals of countries in northern Central and South America. ‘Haiti. Historically, approximately 90% of these visas have been used by Mexican nationals. This increase comes with strong measures to protect American and H-2B workers. Along with this announcement, the Biden-Harris administration is launching a White House-led worker protections task force to ensure ethical hiring and dignified labor standards for foreign workers, as well as protections for American workers. .
The United States also renews its commitment to addressing the root causes of migration and supporting countries in the region most affected by these flows. For this reason, the United States has announced nearly $817 million in new assistance since September 2022 under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. This includes more than $240 million in new regional security and humanitarian assistance, $376 million in additional humanitarian assistance for people affected by the regional crisis in Venezuela, and more than $199 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the Mexico and Central America.
