U.S. will allow some Venezuelans in but will send to Mexico migrants crossing the border

SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration has agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted after Russia’s invasion, while Mexico has agreed to accept some Venezuelans who are expelled from the United States, the two nations said Wednesday.

In a related announcement, the Department of Homeland Security said 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 U.S. and Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry — addresses an unusually large increase in Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. 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 U.S. airports. The U.S. has agreed to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing war for stays of up two years and have admitted tens of thousands so far, including nearly 17,000 in August.

In a release, the Department of Homeland Security said: “Effective immediately, 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 reinforcing their coordinated enforcement operations to target human smuggling organizations and bring them to justice. That 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, stash houses, and staging locations.”

Venezuelans recently surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border after Mexicans. In August, Venezuelans were stopped 25,349 times, up 43% from 17,652 in July and four times the 6,301 encounters in August 2021, signaling 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 U.S. 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.

Mexico, under pressure from the Biden administration, introduced restrictions on air travel to limit Venezuelan migration to the United States in January, but many then shifted to the Darien Gap route.

”These actions make clear that there is a lawful and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and lawful entry is the only way,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas in a statement. “Those who attempt to cross the southern border of the United States illegally will be returned to Mexico and will be ineligible for this process in the future. Those who follow the lawful process will have the opportunity to travel safely to the United States and become eligible to work here.”