The ongoing economic, humanitarian, and political crisis in Venezuela has fueled a continuous surge in Venezuelans fleeing their homeland. More than 6 million Venezuelans, roughly 20 percent of the nation’s population, have sought refuge abroad, marking the largest international displacement in the Western Hemisphere’s history. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its border restrictions and aggravated socioeconomic conditions for migrants across the region, further pushed Venezuelans towards the United States in search of opportunity and safety throughout 2021.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) documented record numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. border in 2021 and early 2022. Historically, migrants to the U.S. primarily originated from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries. However, recent years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in Venezuelan nationals, alongside individuals from non-traditional countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti, arriving at the Southwest border. Many Venezuelans making this journey had initially sought refuge in other South American countries, only to be displaced again due to limited opportunities and resources in those host nations.
Image: Graph depicting the sharp increase in Venezuelan migrant encounters by CBP from FY2020 to FY2022, highlighting the escalating migration trend.
Between Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 and FY 2021, CBP encounters with Venezuelans nationwide dramatically increased from 4,520 to 50,499 – a tenfold surge. The number of Venezuelan encounters at the U.S. Southern border in the first five months of FY 2022 (October 2021 to February 2022) already surpassed the total for the entire previous fiscal year, representing a staggering 4,000 percent increase compared to the same period the year before.
However, February of this year saw a significant decrease in Venezuelan nationals encountered at the U.S. Southern border, dropping to 3,072 from 22,779 in January. This decline coincides with a shift in Mexico’s migration policy concerning Venezuelans. Facing pressure from the U.S. Biden administration to curb northward migration of Venezuelans and other groups, Mexico implemented a visa requirement on January 21. This policy makes legal migration to and through Mexico exceedingly difficult for most Venezuelans, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. To obtain this visa, Venezuelans must possess a valid passport, a challenging task given the deteriorated state of public services in Venezuela. Furthermore, unless they have a formal invitation for a specific activity from an institution, applicants must demonstrate property ownership and stable employment for the past two years, or prove they hold approximately $2,550 in bank accounts. These requirements are prohibitive for many Venezuelans escaping a severe economic crisis where the monthly minimum wage is around $28.
The substantial decrease in Venezuelan arrivals at the U.S. border following Mexico’s visa imposition is partly because many Venezuelan migrants who arrived in the U.S. in the past year initially flew to Mexico before traveling by land to the U.S. border. This pattern was also observed with Ecuadorian and Brazilian nationals, who experienced similar decreases in U.S. border arrivals after Mexico imposed visa requirements in September and December 2021, respectively.
Image: Graph illustrating the impact of Mexico’s visa restrictions on Venezuelan migration, showing a sharp decrease in CBP encounters after the policy implementation.
The increasing number of Venezuelans migrating north from initial South American host countries joins a large influx of migrants from other nations, including Haiti and Cuba, crossing the dangerous Darién Gap along the Colombia-Panama border. Panamanian authorities report that Venezuelans traversing this route are rapidly outnumbering Haitians and other nationalities. Official data indicates that nearly 2,500 Venezuelan migrants have crossed the Darién Gap in the first two months of 2022, compared to 2,819 in all of 2021. The high volume of migrants through the Darién Gap is especially concerning due to the region’s harsh conditions and the presence of criminal organizations, posing extreme risks of violence, exploitation, and human trafficking. The journey is particularly perilous for women, who face a high risk of sexual violence from criminal groups in the area. Tragically, in 2022 alone, three Venezuelan nationals have died while crossing the Darién Gap.
Image: Graph showing the rising trend of Venezuelan migrants crossing the Darien Gap, highlighting the dangerous alternative routes taken due to border restrictions.
Faced with consistently high numbers of migrants from Venezuela and other countries moving northward, and with Mexico’s new migration restrictions, Central American countries are under increasing pressure to adopt similar policies to control migrant flows. In February, Costa Rica announced a new visa requirement for Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan nationals.
Adding to the growing restrictions in Mexico and Costa Rica, Venezuelan migrants also encounter restrictive border policies upon reaching the U.S., including Title 42. This Trump-era policy, implemented in March 2020, effectively limits the right to seek asylum under the guise of preventing COVID-19 spread. While historically Venezuelans faced lower expulsion rates compared to other nationalities, reports in January indicated that the Biden administration began expelling Venezuelans to Colombia under Title 42. Furthermore, many Venezuelans have been returned to Mexico under the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, reinstated by the Biden administration in December, to await their asylum case processing. Department of Homeland Security data from March shows Venezuelans comprise 12 percent of the 1,569 individuals enrolled in Remain in Mexico. Despite the Biden administration’s moves to roll back parts of Title 42 and plans to phase it out by late May, the policy continues to significantly restrict legal migration and asylum-seeking for Venezuelans and other nationalities. Adding to these challenges, the absence of a U.S. embassy in Caracas, unlike every other Latin American country, means Venezuelans cannot apply for a U.S. visa without traveling to a third country, requiring resources many lack.
While Mexico’s recent visa requirement appears to have temporarily reduced Venezuelan arrivals at the U.S. border, it’s crucial to understand that restrictive border policies and visa requirements do not necessarily stop migration. Instead, they limit safe and legal migration options, often forcing migrants and refugees to use informal and dangerous routes, increasing their vulnerability to violence and exploitation by criminal groups. Since Mexico imposed the visa requirement for Venezuelans in January, making air travel to Mexico more difficult, more Venezuelans are reportedly arriving in Mexico by foot to seek asylum after journeys through perilous routes like the Darién Gap.
Furthermore, these restrictions hinder Venezuelan migrants’ access to legal status in host countries, increasing their economic vulnerability and hindering long-term socioeconomic integration. Consequently, coupled with rising xenophobia and challenges in host countries, some Venezuelans have begun returning to Venezuela, where the humanitarian crisis, political persecution, and other risks persist.
In response to these challenges and restrictive policies in the U.S., Mexico, and other countries, pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to provide meaningful protection for Venezuelans in the U.S. The newly formed Venezuelan American Caucus, launched in December, aims to mobilize the Venezuelan diaspora in the U.S. around key issues, including immigration reform. A central focus for the Caucus is linking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to a path to permanent residency, a campaign promise made by President Biden.
Following reports of Venezuelans being expelled to Colombia under Title 42 and deported to Venezuela via third countries in January, the Venezuelan American Caucus publicly called on the Biden administration to allow Venezuelans in the U.S. to present their asylum cases, as mandated by international human rights law. Similar appeals came from Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and U.S. Congressional leaders like Senator Bob Menendez, who described the deportation reports as “extremely disturbing.” In February, the Venezuelan American Caucus urged President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to expand TPS eligibility for Venezuela to include Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. after March 9, 2021, when Venezuela was initially designated for TPS.
Moreover, since the Mexican government’s December announcement of the new visa requirement for Venezuelans, human rights advocates and NGOs have voiced strong opposition, highlighting the implications for the right to seek asylum. Amnesty International denounced the decision in a letter to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in December, urging regional governments to provide protection for Venezuelan migrants. On January 21, when Mexico began enforcing the visa, Mexican human rights organizations Sin Fronteras and Apoyo a Migrantes Venezolanos AC issued a statement expressing concern about the visa’s impact on asylum rights and safe migration.
