More than 25% of Venezuela’s population has fled the country since the authoritarian policies of Nicolás Maduro plunged the South American country into economic free fall and social unrest. The humanitarian emergency is believed to be the largest mass displacement of people in recent Latin American history, with most of the approximately 6 million migrants relocating to 17 countries, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.
But those who come to the United States seeking asylum are being turned away using the deceptive cover of a Trump-era COVID-19 pandemic provision known as Title 42. This new “migration enforcement process” was unveiled recently to ease the crush at the southern U.S. border, leaving thousands of desperate Venezuelan migrants stuck in Mexico. The program relies on cooperation from Mexican government officials, who have agreed to allow the Venezuelans to remain in Mexico, for now.
The number of Venezuelan migrants arriving in the U.S. has risen the past two years, particularly during the past few months. Border authorities reported that about 33,000 Venezuelans seeking asylum arrived in September alone.
Title 42 has been used since early 2020 by U.S. authorities to bar entry by individuals from “countries where a quarantinable communicable disease exists.” The provision was cruelly employed by the Trump administration to bar migrants lawfully seeking asylum, and the Biden administration continued using it until May, with some exceptions, partly as result of being unable to overcome legal challenges. Title 42 finally ended in late May, but the Department of Homeland Security is now applying that policy only to Venezuelans.
This policy, rooted in the lie that migrants are a serious health threat, is cowardly policymaking. It’s also disingenuous. In recent months, the Biden administration has sent mixed messages about COVID, downplaying its seriousness or issuing warnings depending on the situation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its indoor masking recommendation for fully vaccinated people in May, though more than 2,500 people are still dying of the coronavirus every week. President Biden said in a nationally televised interview in September that “the pandemic is over,” yet his administration renewed the public health emergency orders weeks later.
Administration officials can’t have it both ways. And if they are trying to fend off criticisms by Republicans about immigration controls in the hotly contested midterm elections, such a ham-handed policy shift in the weeks before election day isn’t likely to change many minds.
Of course, the U.S. must enforce its borders to ensure the safety of the country and citizens, but the Biden administration should also be mindful of the global refugee crisis that’s displaced a record number of people. It’s not as if Venezuelan migrants arriving on the U.S. doorstep comes as a surprise. That country’s economy and society have been unraveling for years, with a United Nations fact-finding mission in late 2021 uncovering evidence of extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and other potential crimes against humanity.
To mollify criticism, Homeland Security is including in the new program a chance for some Venezuelans to legally migrate to the U.S. under an advance parole system modeled after one used to help Ukrainian refugees. However, admission is capped at an abysmally small 24,000 people and the program for Ukrainians specifically excluded Title 42 from being used to bar them entry. Further, the advance parole program requires Venezuelans to have a U.S. sponsor.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are treating migrants as objects to be ferried around — and dropped at the doorstep of political rivals — or demonized as health risks instead of treating them as human beings. Venezuelan migrants are traveling dangerous paths rife with smugglers, traffickers and other bandits, only to reach the U.S. border to become fodder in partisan power plays.
Republican and Democratic policymakers alike have failed miserably year after year to address even the smallest of immigration issues. Millions of young immigrants known as “Dreamers” are in suspended legal status due to the failure of legislators to pass or negotiate a permanent legal solution.
Homeland Security officials say this new program for Venezuelan migrants “enables the United States to lead by example.” An example of what? The U.S. is simply handing off migrants to another country not any better equipped to handle the crisis. A better example would be for the U.S. to create a program that doesn’t violate the human rights of Venezuelans.
Los Angeles Times
