Home Politics The U.S. Silently Moves Venezuelan Migrants to Colombia

The U.S. Silently Moves Venezuelan Migrants to Colombia

Venezuelan migrants BELatina Latinx
Photo courtesy of Reuters.

It seems that the media monopoly on the border has remained in the hands of the past administration, and many have looked away from the migration crisis that continues to worsen every day.

While political rhetoric has focused on the Central American situation as the driving force behind the migrant movements, the Biden administration now has a new wave of migration on its hands: Venezuelan migration.

In November, as reported by the Washington Post, U.S. authorities intercepted 13,406 Venezuelan migrants at the border with Mexico in October, the highest single-month total and more than double the number apprehended in August. The influx includes Venezuelans who left their homes years ago for Colombia and other countries in the region, as well as more recent migrants fleeing violence, economic collapse, and authoritarian rule.

Now, the United States is returning to Colombia some Venezuelans caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border if they previously resided in that country, U.S. officials confirmed on Monday, citing the need to limit the spread of COVID-19.

As reported by Reuters, two Venezuelan nationals were expelled to Colombia on Thursday under a U.S. health order that allows authorities to quickly remove migrants caught crossing the southern border, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement, adding that it plans to continue such returns on a regular basis.

Nearly 25,000 Venezuelans were apprehended at the southern border in December, up sharply from just 192 apprehensions during the same month last year.

Although President Biden promised to reverse the previous administration’s immigration policies, his border agenda appears to be stalled in the face of record migrant apprehensions.

Biden has not lifted a Trump-era order known as a Title 42 order that allows migrants to be quickly removed during the pandemic, Reuters continued.

According to the DHS, Mexico does not have the capacity to accept the return of some nationalities under the order, leaving the U.S. looking for alternatives, including Colombia.

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