The Biden administration will begin expelling some illegal migrants from Venezuela to Mexico, while giving 24,000 others a legal pathway to enter the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday.
U.S. border authorities will return Venezuelan migrants who cross illegally to Mexico; however, if they cross the border at a U.S. port of entry and meet certain requirements, including having a U.S. sponsor, they will be allowed to enter and apply for work authorization, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). (RELATED: Biden Admin To Give Venezuelan Migrants A Legal Way To Cross The Border Amid Surge In Encounters: REPORT)
“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,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
Between October 2021 and August 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 153,905 Venezuelan migrants at the border.
DHS says the number of Venezuelans that have tried to cross the souther border illegally is nearly four times higher than in 2021, as migration from other countries from northern Central America has decreased by 25%.
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Two Venezuelan migrants recently told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the path for Venezuelans hasn’t been “humane.”
“I think the current policies, they can benefit people like Bleisker, he’s a young person and I believe has very good intentions in coming here, but it could also benefit someone completely different,” Elio, a legal migrant from Venezuela, told the DCNF. “It can benefit a criminal.”
“They don’t have any documents to tell if they are criminals or not,” Bleisker, an illegal migrant from Venezuela added.
The new process will disqualify the illegal migrants from Venezuela from future eligibility in the program, Mayorkas said.
“Those who attempt to cross the southern border of the U.S. illegally will be returned to Mexico & will be ineligible for this process in the future. Those who follow the lawful process will have the opportunity to travel safely to the U.S. and become eligible to work here,” Mayorkas said.
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