2 yıl önce

US, Mexico agree on Ukraine-type plan for Venezuela migrants

Plan will enable thousands of people from the South American country to enter the US by air and also send some Venezuelans to Mexico.

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Venezuelans recently surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at US border after Mexicans.

United States has agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants, similar to how Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression have been admitted, while Mexico has agreed to accept some Venezuelans who are expelled from the US, the two nations have said.

In a related announcement, the Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday it will make available nearly 65,000 temporary work visas for lower-skilled industries, roughly double the current annual allotment.

At least 20,000 of those temporary work visas will be reserved for Haiti and northern Central American countries.

The agreement over Venezuelans — as announced by the US and Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry — addresses an unusually large increase in Venezuelans arriving at the US border with Mexico after a perilous journey over land that includes Panama’s notorious Darien Gap.

Under the agreement, Venezuelans who are chosen would arrive at US airports.

The US has agreed to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing war for stays of up to two years and has admitted tens of thousands so far, including nearly 17,000 in August.

Sudden demographic shift

Venezuelans recently surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the US border after Mexicans.

In August, Venezuelans were stopped 25,349 times, up 43 percent from 17,652 in July and four times the 6,301 encounters in August 2021, signalling a remarkably sudden demographic shift.

An estimated 6.8 million Venezuelans have fled their country since the economy tanked in 2014, mostly to Latin America and Caribbean countries.

But the US economy's relative strength since the Covid-19 pandemic has caused Venezuelan migrants to look north.

Also, strained relations with the Venezuelan government make it extremely difficult to send them home under Title 42 authority, encouraging more to come.

SOURCE: AP