Venezuelan And Other Asylum Seekers Stranded In US After Policy Change

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are deserted in Mexico and Central America after U.S. officials enforced a Donald Trump-era guideline preventing an upsurge in illegal border crossings by Venezuelan immigrants that for months had been a concern for the Joe Biden administration.

The United Nations estimates that the U.S. has since Oct. 12 deported more than 5,300 Venezuelans who had arrived at the border back to Mexico. This is under Title 42 which was first enforced under President Trump to allow the expulsion of migrants for reasons that they might be positive for Covid-19. Thousands of Venezuelans had been leaving their country or third countries to reach the U.S.

Venezuelans, many of whom have children, now spend their nights on the street. Some were in makeshift camps and overcrowded shelters on the Mexican side of the border, which is a challenge to the country’s federal government and local authorities. The immigrants were hoping to cross and assert asylum, then stay in the U.S.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, many Venezuelans have complained they are miserable, hungry, and out of money. This is after they traversed several countries and dodged violence and thieves only to get kicked out of the U.S.

Félix Rodríguez, a Venezuelan horse trainer, said they had enormous confidence that they sold everything to get to the U.S., and suddenly, the door slammed on their faces. He spoke from a rundown motel in Piedras Negras, a dirty border district across from Eagle Pass, Texas.

Meanwhile, DW reported that another migrant, Pedro Mora, left Venezuela when he was 18 and had already been living outside the country for four years. He left Colombia for a journey hoping for a new life in the U.S. on Sept. 17. He and two male relatives rode a ferry from Necocli to Capurgana and crossed from Colombia into Panama.

Mora's group spent seven agonizing days traversing jungles, mountains, and rivers on foot through the Darien Gap, which connects Central and South America. Along the way, they encountered injured and dead travelers. They joined a larger group of migrants as protection against rampant robbery on the migrant route. The now 22-year-old Mora said that there were many, many people, and that most of them were Venezuelans. There were also Afghans, Chinese, Haitians immigrants, some were pregnant women, women with children, and entire families.

The Biden administration's modification to migrant policy on Oct. 12 included an orderly way for Venezuelans to gain entry into the U.S. under a parole program granting successful applicants a two-year stay. Applicants are required to have a valid passport, secure a financial sponsor within the U.S., fund their own travel, pass screening, and, significantly, not have been deported from the United States within the past five years or have crossed the Panama, Mexico, or U.S. borders irregularly after Oct. 19.