The Homeland Security Department announced a new effort Wednesday to welcome some Venezuelan migrants but kick others out of the country, reviving a Trump-era policy of forcing some illegal immigrants back over the border into Mexico.
The department said it will accept 24,000 Venezuelans through the new legal avenue, “paroling” them into the country in the same way it has done for Ukrainians.
But those who flout the new program and try to jump the border will be pushed back into Mexico, the department said.
Returning the migrants to Mexico is similar to the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, which saw tens of thousands of would-be asylum seekers returned to Mexico to await their court hearings. The policy had the effect of discouraging people from coming in the first place, and the Biden team — which had blasted the Trump policy — is now hoping to harness it to solve the current border surge.
“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,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
He said those who jump the border will be barred from the new legal status program.
To qualify for the legal program, Venezuelans must have a sponsor in the U.S who is willing to provide financial support. They are also supposed to pass a safety vetting and complete their vaccinations.
The Biden administration has created a similar program to welcome 100,000 Ukrainians.
It also brought in tens of thousands of Afghans through parole powers last year, though they did not have to have sponsors, and many of them avoided full national security vetting and vaccinations.
The new policy is the latest in a series of Biden administration struggles to gain control of a border that’s seeing unprecedented levels of encounters with illegal immigrants and smuggling of dangerous drugs such as fentanyl.
Venezuelans have taken advantage of the broken border, believing — usually with good reason — that if they reached U.S. soil they would be caught and released.
The Border Patrol has caught 155,553 illegal immigrants from Venezuela from Oct. 1, 2021, to Aug. 31, 2022. That’s more than the number of people apprehended from El Salvador, one of the more traditional sending countries.
The Biden administration blames turmoil in Venezuela, though the country has faced strife for years and the surge of migrants only began with Mr. Biden.
In 2020, the last full year under President Trump, just 4,520 Venezuelans were nabbed by Border Patrol agents. Last year, the figure topped 50,000.
Immigration enforcement advocates slammed the new legal pathway, saying it was an “abuse” of the parole power.
“Afghans, Ukrainians, now Venezuelans. Who’s next?” said R.J. Hauman, head of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “Our immigration system is restrictive by design.”
The Biden administration had moved early to cancel the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, saying it left migrants subject to abuse in Mexico. Immigrant-rights activists catalogued thousands of cases of migrants who said they were robbed, assaulted, raped or kidnapped after being sent back across the border.
The administration said the new legal pathway will be open only as long as Mexico cooperates on taking back those who don’t qualify.
Homeland Security also said if the program goes well, the department “may consider expanding it in the future.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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