fbpx
Skip to content

U.S. Asks Mexico to Restrict Visas for Venezuelans

Leer en Español

The Mexican government is considering requesting more stringent Visa for Venezuelans. According to a Reuters report, this came after the Biden White House asked the Lopez Obrador government to do so, due to the growing number of Venezuelans crossing the US-Mexico border as a result of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the South American country.

The reports claim that the Mexican government is currently discussing options with Venezuela about the possible measure to take and that the U.S Customs and Border Protection have been complaining about the large number of Venezuelans who have crossed the border in search of a new life in the United States. Currently, Mexico does not require a tourist visa for Venezuelans who want to visit the country.

The sources cited by Reuters claim that Mexico could be asking Venezuelans who want to visit the country to show economic solvency and to have a return plane ticket back home in order to be allowed to get into Mexico.

The Biden administration has faced a tough situation on the Southern border, with Border Patrol data showing a record 1.7 million border encounters in the fiscal year of 2021, with a noticeable rise occurring after Biden took office in January 2021. The current figures for FY2021 are almost double those during the 2019 border crisis in the Trump administration.

Visa-for-venezuelans
The Mexican government has reportedly been pressured by the United States to impose Visa restrictions to Venezeulans

Thousands of Venezuelans have done the perilous trip through the Southern Border

The number of Venezuelans who have reached the United States through the Mexican border has increased dramatically, especially after the United States canceled direct flights between both countries in 2019. In the Fiscal year of 2021, almost 379,000 encounters on the border were from people that were not nationals from the northern triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras), according to figures from Border patrol and analysis by the Pew Research Center showed that 47,752 of those apprehensions came from Venezuela.

The Venezuelan migrant crisis, which has forced over 5.9 million out of their country according to UNHCR data, has also had a significant effect in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans currently living in the country. A Migration Policy Institute study in 2020 showed that by 2018 there were already an estimated 394,000 Venezuelans Immigrants in the U.S., a number that is likely to have increased since.

The Biden administration granted Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans in the United States earlier this year, which would allow Venezuelans to work and live in the United States on a temporary basis. A similar status had been also granted to Venezuelans in the final hours of the Trump administration.

Maduro, Cellebrite, régimen, hackeo
Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country during the goverment of Socialist President Nicolas Maduro (EFE)

Although the trip from Venezuela to the United States through Mexico might have sounded far-fetch a few years ago, with the U.S. being thousands of miles away from Venezuela.  The reality in the ground has shown that thousands of Venezuelans have decided to make the dangerous trip anyway, with them having to face the dangerous realities of dealing with hazardous terrain, dangerous cartels in charge of various zones of Mexico, and terrible conditions once they have been apprehended by American authorities in the U.S.

Frank, a Venezuelan who did the perilous trip towards the United States a few years ago and told his story to El American, spent months traveling from his native city of Maracaibo until he finally reached the United States.  He traveled to Colombia to then go to Mexico, where he spent a very long time trying to get to America. Once he finally got to the country, he suffered atrocious conditions in a Border patrol detainment center until he was finally released.

The reported travel requirements to Venezuelans would make Frank’s odyssey almost impossible for the majority of Venezuelans.

Daniel is a Political Science and Economics student from the University of South Florida. He worked as a congressional intern to Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) from January to May 2020. He also is the head of international analysis at Politiks // Daniel es un estudiante de Cs Políticas y Economía en la Universidad del Sur de la Florida. Trabajo como pasante legislativo para el Representate Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) desde enero hasta mayo del 2020. Daniel también es el jefe de análisis internacional de Politiks.

Leave a Reply

Total
0
Share