Biden Administration to Start Deporting Venezuelan Migrants
Do you agree with the move?
Updated October 12, 2023, 12:38 p.m. PST
- The Biden administration will begin deporting thousands of Venezuelan migrants directly to Venezuela, reversing a long-standing policy. Venezuelans who cross the US-Mexico border unlawfully and lack a legal basis to remain in the United States will be targeted for deportation.
- The move comes three weeks after Biden announced that he would offer expanded work permits and grant temporary legal status to Venezuelan migrants who arrived prior to July 31. The deportation policy will impact migrants who arrived after that date. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said:
“We have made a determination it is safe to return Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the United States subsequent to July 31 and do not have a legal basis to remain here.”
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the move, saying:
“Under the Los Angeles Declaration … we’re charged with taking coordinated actions to try to stabilize flows, to expand regular pathways, to humanely manage all of our borders. Repatriations are a key piece to this balanced approach.”
- Repatriation flights are set to begin shortly, and Venezuela has agreed to accept deported nationals. Over 7.7 million people have fled Venezuela, a level of displacement that exceeds Ukraine, the site of an active war.
- Former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Sandweg said:
“Restarting deportations to Venezuela will send a deterrence message. I would also expect it to trigger a short term drop in Venezuelan apprehensions.”
- Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service said:
“Returning thousands of Venezuelans to the same unimaginably dangerous conditions they just fled is a profoundly problematic policy for the world’s humanitarian leader to adopt.”
What's the story?
- The Biden administration will grant Temporary Protected Status to approximately 472,000 Venezuelan migrants already in the country, making them eligible to work.
- Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas granted the expansion because of "Venezuela's increased instability and lack of safety due to the enduring humanitarian, security, political, and environmental conditions."
- The move could satisfy Democratic lawmakers who have been pressuring Biden to take meaningful action as Democrat-led cities like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles struggle with an influx of migrants.
- New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is:
"Grateful the federal government has acted so speedily to grant one of our top priorities: Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan asylum seekers and migrants who have already arrived in this country."
Who is eligible?
- The program will impact migrants who arrived before July 31, but those eligible must still apply for the protected status. The move also includes an 18-month extension for those previously granted temporary status. Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. after July 31 of this year are not eligible.
- Prior to the announcement, 242,700 Venezuelan migrants already qualified for temporary status.
- The administration said it is aiming to grant work permits within 30 days, but migrants who crossed illegally to seek asylum must, by law, wait six months in order to receive a work permit.
What is happening in Venezuela?
- Over the last decade, Venezuela has been experiencing an economic and humanitarian crisis, and food and medicine have become unaffordable for millions of people who remain in the country.
- Over 7.3 million people left the country in the last decade. While the majority have settled in neighboring countries, millions have headed North, taking the treacherous Darien Gap, one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world.
Do you agree with the move?
-Emma Kansiz
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The Asylum system is broken in the US and is the cause of what everyone sees as an immigration problem.
Those crossing the US southern border are being coached by paid coyotes to claim asylum even when they don't qualify which overwhelms the current US federal system (backlog of 2M cases) leaving it to states who are overwhelmed and fighting with other states.
The US federal system needs to staff up the border with immigration officers that can make asylum decisions on the spot and not let asylum seekers exist in the US for years awaiting court cases when the vast majority won't qualify because they are here for economic reasons which doesn't qualify for asylum (only political, relgious, etc groups who fear for their lives).
Also needed is a way to direct immigrants to states and counties that need workers, and to provide temporary assistance until they start working plus any transition assistance needed, eg language skills.
Once asylum seekers are here they need to go to relatives and friends immediately, and if they have none then an area with a low cost of living and a worker shortage.
The Venezuelan Temporary Protection Status (TPS) is an incomplete step in that it's missing a system to send immigrants to family and friends, or a low cost living area with plentiful job openings, abd funding for the transition until they are working and have secured housing. Also needed us language skills for work & school. Without this the burden is on state and lical government to fund it.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/us-immigration-courts
Anyone who walks over 2000 miles, some carrying babies, running from a tyrannical government looking to build a better life in the USA, should be given a seat at the table.
We should also be looking at ways to help stabilize the governments south of our borders...China & Russia are both pumping in monies to exploit the border crisis.
https://homeland.house.gov/2023/06/21/6560-2/
What about Amercans who pay?
I am all for helping people from other countries. I just want to be sure this is done in such a way that we don't lose track of them and they just disappear into our society. They also need to be background checked prior to being given any other priviledges.
I support granting the ability to work to migrants who come here to seek refuge from countries that are volatile such as Venezuela, but we still need a plan to hear any claims of asylum and to house these people until their work enables them to rent a home of their own.
In theory, this is a good move, but it's not enough. We need Congressional action to provide a pathway for people who come here for legitimate reasons, to have their cases heard, and to be able to find work quickly so they can stay on their own and not depend on cities to support them.
Well, there here now. Can't kick them out! That would be mean. But we're still trying to find places to house them, ways to feed and clothe them and entertain them because there doing nothing all day. We have to find a way to educate there children because for the most part, children and adults can't speak our language. This also makes it hard for so many to find and communicate with people to get a job. Not to mention when they get papers to work, it still takes six months before they can start. And that's for the ones who were here before July 31st. They've been trying to bunk them up in parks and places outside all summer because there is just no where to put anyone anymore. Hotels and other buildings are over capacity. Now we're coming into winter and people are still coming. And there not all Venezuelans and never have been. There from over 160 countries around the world. Are they all families with young children? No! Most of them are young men! Why aren't these young men fighting for and staying in their own counties? Because a lot of them are cartels, human traffickers dealing in drugs, murders and terrorists and criminals of all kinds! Everyone and anyone can come in here illegally. There's a lot of got-aways! Some dressed in camouflage. Not all good people with families or even most are coming in thru the ports of entry now. Not all drugs and human smugglers are being caught thru the ports of entry. The cartels now run our southern border. Their in our country and their making billions! And still, the border is open!
The sad part is good people are not just treading hundreds of miles on foot through dangerous terrain, rivers, weather and the wild, but they face human to human animals as well. People are giving thousands to cartels to get here. Where they get thousands is beyond me. But there bracelets prove it. They're being beat, raped, dismembered, murdered, sold into sex trade, made to work when they get here to pay back the cartels, and of coarse it never gets paid off, among other things. And for every murder the cartel does, they get a tattoo on there face in the form of a tear as a badge of honor. How special that murder has to be to get the badge of honor, I don't know. Many die making this treturous journey. Babies, pregnant woman and strong men have been found. Some murdered, some drowned and some dehydrated. When they get here they don't get sent back. If stations are too full where they come in, they get sent to another place. If there's no room at the other places then they just get sent into the interior of the country. I saw one person ask a border patrol if he can go to NY. The patrolman said yes. Immagrant asked, it's ok to go? Patrolman says yes just go! But Biden and the Democratic Party says it's closed!
Another sad part is our country suffers. Our quality of life suffers. Not because of the good people that come wanting a better life. But we can't afford this endless influx of people. Good or not, we just can't afford a never ending number of people that "we" have to take care of. No matter if their good or bad, we're still taking care of them. In our classrooms their taking away learning time from our own kids because they can't speak english. If you say, well they just have to get people in there to teach them, then your being naive. It just doesn't happen like that. Taking people and placing them in more rural communities because there is more room, as I saw suggested here, means nothing as the same financial problems still exist. How people just don't get what's involved in all of this just boggles my mind. Someone has to pay for this! If a big city like NY city can't afford it, what makes you think dividing them up and putting them in a rural area, that any small town can afford it? They have less resources than big cities! There's just not empty buildings sitting around to house them. There's not always grocery stores close by. And God knows there's not jobs everywhere. And when people see an influx of men hanging around, it makes them very uncomfortable. There all not just sweet little families.
Suddenly now that finally the problem at the boarder is coming, (a little more to light), is only mainly because Mayor Adams is upset. But in spite of that and because people are feeling a little sorry for him, people still want to blame the governor of Texas. .??????? Most of these same people came through Texas. Arizona too. Seeing what's going on in NY and still blaming Texas for it is just still wanting to blame republicans. Some small towns down there have immigrants at least two and three times there population. Ranch's are being trashed, crops ruined, things stolen, and they have to be careful walking around on there own property. But for three years the border patrol has not been supported. And after putting up barbed wire the border patrol has to cut it to let them in. Texas has been taken to court over the buoys in the water. They want them to take the containers down. They won't build the wall. How do we enforce our laws? We Don't! Because they don't want them enforced. The only person and party to blame is President Biden and the democrat party. And, the people in this country that feel the only way to run a country is by feelings. We all feel for people when we hear peoples stories from other countries. I've worked with a lot of them. And I've learned a lot from them. But the immigrants I know are legal. They filled out all the paperwork. Some found relatives to sponsor them. Others went to catholic charities. All were from war torn countries. And it took them a long time to get in. And their not happy that after all they went through and all it took for them to get in here, they watch these people just walk across the border. These honorable legal immigrants that I know, didn't come because to them a better life was finding a job or because cartels took over there city. The ones I knew had been escaping from bombs and regimes and socialism. They didn't have jobs because they didn't have a home or a society anymore. Or they had to flee there home for fear the army would kill them like in Bosnia. Or they lived in a cave to hide from the Viet Cong in Vietnam. Or living under Russian rule in the Chec Republic. I feel for these people flooding into our country. All republicans do. But we have laws. It's why you and I have better lives than they do. Not because we're heartless. That's how this country has run for two and a half centuries. Could the laws be looked at and tweaked? Yes. But in the mean time we still have the old laws to go by. Which has worked. For President Biden to say over and over again that the border is not open, is just a farce. His actions Do Not match his words. He is Not compassionate like he tries to make himself out to be. How can you claim to be compassionate when you know people are literally dying to make the trip here? Regardless of what he says, they know they can still get in! That's not being compassionate. That screams, look at all these votes democrats will get! Because that's what eventually happens when people start getting job permits which means a social security number which means ID to vote. "Remember me, I let you in." Who's using who here as political pawns? In the mean time immigrants are dying and US citizens are trying to deal with this. They have to deal with it in their neighborhoods with crime, in over crowded schools, from taxes having to go up, and our quality of life that has already been going down is going down more! Our quality of life has gone down so much in the past few years that we're a disgrace! It's not because of Covid and it's not because of so called MAGA republicans! But that's a story for another time.
I've read a lot of your comments here. All I can say is some of you are saying things a little differently now. But still not logical enough to fix the problem. Because the only thing that's logical enough to stop this invasion is to enforce the laws on the books and give alternatives to Mexico and their cartels and their affiliation with China and fentanyl. And of coarse, for the other half of this country to acknowledge we don't have a closed border and you can't always rule by feelings.
Why are our immigrantion laws being circumvented?
If they are broke, fix them. Stop breaking the law
This is one of many actions that needs to be taken to help pave immigrants' pathways to American citizenship.
We should deport ALL illegal aliens.
I'm not clear on all the nuances but common sense tells me that if there are no other solutions then we must have a logical reason to turn people around.
However, I seems that if we decided on a certain number to process each year then reasonably we can turn the remainder back.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/30/europe/elon-musk-germany-migrant-debate-intl
following bozo! an insult to humanity
What's going on in Venezuela is horrible, and the end result of the politics of greed. I'm glad these people are being given the chance for a better life.
Why is the United States the only country providing protection for the rest of the world? It's not our responsibility. Biden is constantly using our money to help everyone except our citizens. Enough.
So, here's the thing. These people are seeking asylum, so they're legally here. Why do you Republicans want them to be unemployed? Do you like extra homelessness? Don't you think if they have jobs, they'll be able to pump money back into the economy? Please explain how enabling the ones who are already here (totalling 0.14% of the US population, btw) to work legally somehow destroys the country.
Process them quickly {reforms needed].
There are a wealth of jobs available they could preformas many A
Americans do not want them. They are grateful to be in the USA.
Biden is commiting TREASON against the USA. The Border Policy alone is Knowingly and Willfully acting against the Sovereign of the USA. That IS the Definition of TREASON. And Act of War!!! Yet, our Politicians think we should wait for an Election hoping that Joe loses. Any Act of War by the Commander in Chief is not something we hope an Election takes care of, an Immediate Court Martial IS the way to handle a TREASONOUS Commander in Chief!!! And this Criminal is so confident that he can Grant Legal Status to an Entire nation, especially one such as Venezuela, and know that nobody will make accountable for his Total Disregard for the USA and the USA Citizens!!! Politicians: you are behaving as if this is all just wonderful. You are not angry as you should be, really,Must Be. And because of that it is not different than being okay with this Invasion on our Sovereignty and much more that Joe Created. You Swore an Oath to Uphold the U.S Constitution and Enforce our Laws and YOU are Not doing so. That is no better than what Joe is doing. They talk about a "Broken" Immigration System, but, the most broken thing about is that those Laws are not being ENFORCED. And that is Shame on You. We don't have to go along with Unconstitutional and Unlawful Acts, Policies, Executive Orders and more. If Joe and his Admin wants to Manage the People's Business in this manner it is up to You to ignore that and Ensure that our Laws are Enforced and our U.S Constitution is in tact. So, do something now. This is unacceptable!!!
Elon musk crossed quite a few borders before getting here! This country gave him shelter & opportunities beyond any measure in history
this same jerk now has the audacity to show up at the southern border and weigh in on immigration versus using some of his wealth and significant tax breaks to assist and alleviate the sufferings of poor migrants who are not as fortunate
another jerk ramaswamy whose parents were fortunate to come as immigrants wants to eliminate h1 visas (which he has taken extensive use of) / education department and make a whole slew of detrimental changes to systems rules laws
then you have the ultimate bozo mafioso capo with his coterie of goons who wants to be the ultimate dictator
to all the supporters and fans of the above and their ilk ... you can declare insanity or evil probably both
Joe Biden has destroyed America. Over 5 million have entered illegally into the US so far.
Well, they still have to actually apply, which might help weed out the real asylum seekers. In additon, migrants who crossed illegally to seek asylum must, by law, wait six months in order to receive a work permit. So that should make everyone who hates immigrants happy.
Republicans get off your tuffs and get new immigration policy and laws going
I am so grateful to Pres Biden for saving the lives of the people of Venezuela. Christians are being murdered by gangs in Venezuela. No wonder they want to come here.
Stop the immigration! Period! Build the wall.