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- BBC News World
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The announcement regarding the new disposition towards Venezuelans who enter the US without authorization was made this Wednesday by the Department of National Security led by Alejandro Mayorkas.
The United States will expel from this Wednesday Venezuelan migrants who illegally cross the country through the border with Mexico.
It was announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of a series of measures to control migration from Venezuela.
Returned to Mexico
“Effective immediately, Venezuelans who enter the United States between ports of entry, without authorization, will be returned to Mexico“, the DHS announced in a statement.
The expulsions will be carried out under Title 42, a public health decree created at the beginning of the pandemic during the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021).
Until now, Venezuelans arriving on US soil enjoyed humanitarian parole, which allowed them to stay to process an asylum application in the country.
The DHS explained that the US and Mexico are reinforcing their joint operations to dismantle and bring to justice the human trafficking organizations that operate on the more than 3,100 km border that separates both countries.
Among the measures announced this Wednesday, there is also a program that will allow 24,000 Venezuelans to emigrate “legally and safely” to the North American country.
A sponsor in the US
It is similar to the current United for Ukraine (U4U) initiative, created to orderly admit Ukrainians fleeing their country due to the Russian invasion.
Venezuelan applicants must demonstrate that they have a sponsor in the US able to provide them with “financial and other support”.
After reviewing case by case, the US authorities will authorize those elected to travel by airplane to the country, where they can apply for a work permit.
Excluded from the program will be those who have been deported from the US in the last five years, who entered Panama or Mexico irregularly or who try to cross the border with the US illegally as of Wednesday’s announcement.
The Venezuelan migration crisis
The new measures respond to the sharp increase in arrivals of Venezuelans to the US from the border with Mexico.
More of 150,000 Venezuelans were detained on North American soil following crossing the line between October 2021 and August of this year, almost triple compared to the 50,499 of the same section in 2021.
More than 6.1 million refugees and migrants have left Venezuela as a result of political turmoil, socioeconomic instability and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in recent years, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees considers it to be the second largest external displacement crisis on the planet following the Syrian war.
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