US Announces New Control Measures for Venezuelan Immigration | World | T.W.

The United States announced today Wednesday (10.12.2022) new measures to curb Venezuelan immigration: a plan to grant legal status for two years to those arriving by plane and the immediate deportation of most of those who cross the border through Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the creation of a new immigration relief for Venezuelans, which it already has for citizens of Ukraine, that grants two-year temporary status to those who have a sponsor in the United States.

In parallel, the majority of Venezuelans who DHS returns to Mexico will be detained after crossing the southern border; The evacuations will be carried out under Title 42, a public health regulation imposed at the start of the pandemic and inherited from the administration of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

The measures are intended to “reduce the number of irregular border arrivals” and create a “more orderly” migration process for Venezuelans fleeing “a humanitarian and economic crisis in their country,” a US government official said in a press call. .

Apply for the program

Under the immigration plan, the U.S. government would initially accept 24,000 people, excluding those deported from the U.S. in the past five years or who entered Panama or Mexico irregularly, the official said.

To apply for the program, interested Venezuelans must demonstrate that they have a sponsor in the United States who can prove that they have financial resources for the duration of the immigrant’s stay in the country.

Additionally, recipients must pass a “national security and public safety” screening, DHS said in a statement.

The announcement by the United States comes as the arrival of Venezuelans at the Mexican border has increased. From October 2021 to August of this year, 150,000 Venezuelans were apprehended at the US southern border, compared to 50,499 during the same period last year.

More than 6.1 million Venezuelans have fled their country, making it the world’s second-largest migration crisis, second only to Syria, according to the International Organization for Refugees.

mg (efe, Reuters, Los Angeles Times)