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HRW: Expulsion of Venezuelans from Mexico and USA Violates International Law

The decision by the US and Mexican governments to extend to Venezuelan migrants the use of a sanitary measure that allows them to be expelled expeditiously “puts lives in danger and violates international law,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday.

Last week the two governments announced a new procedure under which all Venezuelans who illegally cross the border from Mexico into the United States will be expelled to the Latin American country without the opportunity to seek asylum.

Simultaneously, the U.S. government announced a program that allows some Venezuelans to request permission to travel to the U.S. by air if they have family already in the United States.

The human rights organization indicated in a statement that as of October 18, 4,050 Venezuelans had been returned to Mexico under this measure, which came into effect on October 13.

Prior to that date neither the U.S. nor Mexico had expelled Venezuelan migrants because Venezuela often refuses to accept air transfers of returnees.

Venezuelans expelled to Mexico in recent days have received visas valid for only a few days or documents from Mexican authorities ordering them to leave the country via the Guatemalan border, HRW said.

With the decision to extend Title 42 application to Venezuelans, U.S. President Joe Biden “effectively punishes Venezuelans who have been forced to flee their country on foot by denying them the right to seek asylum,” said HRW researcher Tyler Mattiace.

“The government is trying to sugarcoat this abusive policy with a humanitarian permit program that benefits only a select few,” he added.

The organization asserted that “the Biden administration must restore the right to seek asylum for all people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, regardless of their nationality, financial means, family ties, or the documents they are traveling with.”

He noted that the number of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. border has increased in recent years due to “a brutal crackdown on the opposition and a humanitarian emergency” in the South American country.

“More than seven million people have fled Venezuela since 2014. Between January 2021 and August 2022, U.S. authorities have detained more than 200,000 Venezuelans at the U.S.-Mexico border,” he pointed out.

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