NEW YORK, CMC – The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization representing over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, on Friday denounced the Joe Biden administration’s plan to resume deportation of Venezuelans without legal status.
In keeping with its commitment to enforce immigration laws and to continue strengthening the consequences for those who cross the US southern borders unlawfully, the administration announced on Thursday that it would resume direct repatriations of Venezuelan nationals who cross the boundaries illegally and do not establish a legal basis to remain in the country.
The announcement comes two weeks after the administration extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans.
“Nobody wants to leave their home if they don’t have to, let alone make a dangerous and grueling trek across the Darien Gap just to reach safety in the United States,” Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s executive director, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). “The ongoing political, economic, and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Venezuela has made living conditions nearly impossible for its people.
“Deporting individuals back to a country in distress is inhumane and will only put people back in harm’s way,” he added. “The Biden administration needs to stop pandering to right-wing voters by deporting people and building a wall and should instead do the job they were elected to do: to protect all people regardless of immigration status.
“We need investments in legal services, not detention and deportations,” Awawdeh continued. “We call on the Biden administration to abandon this cruel plan and immediately stop deportation flights to Venezuela.
The US announcement followed a decision by authorities from Venezuela to accept the return of Venezuelan nationals, as well as high-level discussions on Thursday in Mexico City between the United States, Mexico, Colombia, and Panama, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, and US Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall discussed ongoing coordinated efforts to address irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere.
“This decision is consistent with the administration’s efforts to implement a strategy of humane, safe, and orderly enforcement of our immigration laws and to process individuals fairly and quickly,” said the US Department of State. “These efforts include the administration’s significant expansion of lawful pathways to enter the United States, including for Venezuelans, which have allowed hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans to enter the country in a safe and orderly manner through our humanitarian parole process and after making an appointment through the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) One mobile application.
“Today’s announcement makes clear that we are committed to strictly enforcing immigration laws and quickly removing individuals who do not avail themselves of these orderly processes and choose to cross our border unlawfully,” it added.
The State Department said irregular migration is “a regional challenge that requires a regional response.
“Through the framework established under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, other partners across the hemisphere are also pursuing new actions to address this challenge, including increased repatriations of Venezuelans and other migrants without valid protection claims,” it said. “Our partners also continue to progress in expanding legal pathways so that individuals are not compelled to make the dangerous journey north.”
Under the Los Angeles Declaration, which President Biden and 20 leaders adopted last year, the State Department said, “We are collectively charged to take coordinated actions to stabilize flows, expand lawful pathways, and humanely manage their borders. Conducting repatriations is a crucial piece to this balanced approach.
“We remain grateful for the efforts of these and other nations in the hemisphere to address historic levels of irregular migration and displacement,” it said. “The United States also supports countries as they strengthen their protection and asylum systems.”
The State Department said the US continues to urge Caribbean and other migrants seeking to come to the United States to “take advantage of the lawful pathways that we have made available and significantly expanded, instead of putting their lives in the hands of callous smugglers and crossing our border unlawfully only to be removed.”
The Biden administration has been under increasing pressure to address the mass influx of migrants crossing the southern borders of the United States.
Many migrants seeking refugee and asylum statuses, after crossing the southern borders and arriving in large cities, such as New York, are nationals of Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Guatemala.
The latest State Department statement comes as Caribbean-American legislators and immigration advocates in New York late last month welcomed the extension and redesignation of Venezuela for TPS for 18 months by the Biden administration “due to extraordinary and temporary conditions in Venezuela that prevent individuals from safely returning.”
After reviewing the country conditions in Venezuela and consulting with interagency partners, Mayorkas said that he determined that an 18-month TPS extension and redesignation are “warranted based on Venezuela’s increased instability and lack of safety due to the enduring humanitarian, security, political and environmental conditions.”
“I welcome President Biden’s decision to provide Venezuelans residing in America with Temporary Protected Status, and I am thankful for DHS (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Mayorkas’ commitment to ensuring the most vulnerable people and families are welcome, safe, and cared for by this nation while they await an asylum determination,” Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, told CMC.
“This decision will not only empower New York City to remain a sanctuary for all those seeking relief and refuge but also mitigate considerable strains on American taxpayers and our immigration system,” added the representative for the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn. “Once again, the Biden-Harris administration has demonstrated their commitment to putting people over politics – and our communities are grateful.”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, celebrated the step while reiterating the need for additional actions from the US federal government to support asylum, which he has highlighted in two successive “Days of Action” this year in Washington.
“The extension and expansion of TPS has been one of our highest priorities for supporting asylum seekers, both in our trips to DC and here in the city,” he told CMC. “We’re grateful that President Biden and the White House heeded our calls alongside the voices of many, especially our newest New Yorkers.
“This announcement will provide relief and opportunity for so many who have come here, seeking asylum and wanting to work,” he added. “It’s a big step, but also a baseline that we hope signals more action and support from Washington moving forward.”
The Biden administration said it was extending and redesignating TPS for Venezuelans who arrived in the United States before July 31, 2023.
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