The United States agreed with Mexico on Wednesday to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants by plane, through a legal route similar to that applied to Ukrainians, and to deport those who enter illegally across its southern border.
The plan “to reduce the illegal migration of Venezuelans” includes “a new process to legally and safely bring in up to 24,000” of them, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
But those who “attempt to enter the United States illegally will be returned,” it said.
“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 Mayorkas was quoted as saying in the statement.
To enter legally, an applicant—who must pass biometric security checks and be vaccinated—needs to submit a petition supported by a US-based person or organization.
Those who have been away from the US in the past five years or as of Wednesday, or who entered Mexico or Panama irregularly after the program was announced, will not be able to apply.
Admitted Venezuelans “will be allowed to travel directly to the United States by air on a case-by-case basis, (…) reducing pressure at the border” and will be able to apply for jobs, DHS reported.
Over the past few years, the number of people fleeing Venezuela, ruled by Nicolás Maduro, has skyrocketed across the Americas. It is estimated that more than 5.9 million currently live in Latin America, of which 2.4 million live in Colombia, according to UN data.
The United States has also received a flood of Venezuelans in recent months.
Between October 2021 and August 2022, more than 150,000 Venezuelan migrants were apprehended at the southern border of the United States, more than 95,000 of them so far this year, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Meanwhile, illegal migration from northern Central America is down by a quarter from last year’s level, DHS said.
US President Joe Biden advocates “orderly” migration based on the principle of shared responsibility, because he does not want his country to bear the full burden of the migration flow.
The new program is aimed at “improving border security” and stems from the successful United for Ukraine program that facilitated the entry of Ukrainians fleeing war in their country, said DHS, which has not ruled out expanding it in the future.
In parallel, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the new approach was coordinated between the two countries.
At Mexico’s request, the United States agreed to “increase labor mobility in the region with 65,000 new work visas” for temporary non-agricultural workers, 20,000 of which are for people from Central America and Haiti, along with “access for 24,000 people from market access routes of work in the USA”, it is stated.
Mexico, which has long asked Washington to increase the number of migrant work visas, described the program as a “temporary scheme to manage migration flows” that both countries will analyze to assess “its results and continuity”.
