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Biden policy making it harder for Venezuelan migrants to seek asylum

1 year 5 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, November 08 2022 Nov 8, 2022 November 08, 2022 8:44 AM November 08, 2022 in News - Immigration / Borderwall

Border Patrol has been sending Venezuelan migrants seeking asylum back to Mexico since mid-October due to a new rule from the Biden administration.

Inside the Brownsville bus terminal, Darwin Molina, a Nicaraguan immigrant, is free in the U.S. to continue his asylum case.

“We're being oppressed by our country's government, which makes us make these quick decisions to leave to the U.S.,” Molina said in Spanish.

Molina says he's escaping the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

RELATED: US will take in some Venezuelans, expel others to Mexico  

Meanwhile, Venezuelan migrants are also fleeing their government under Nicolas Maduro, but they’re not seen as often getting off these white buses from federal immigration officials.

“We have seen a drastic drop in the number of Venezuelans being released in downtown Brownsville,” said Mercedes Perez, a volunteer with Team Brownsville.

Perez says they've only see up to five Venezuelan migrants per day.

Across the border in Matamoros, the director of one shelter has seen an increase in Venezuelan migrants in his city. Mexico agreed to take in migrants kicked out of the U.S.

“I think that Mexico is trying to get ready,” said Abraham Barberi. “I don't think they're completely ready."

READ ALSO: US migrant policy 'bucket of cold water' to some Venezuelans  

On Oct. 12, Mexico agreed to take in Venezuelans expelled from the U.S. under Title 42, a CDC health directive put in place to keep COVID-19 from entering the U.S.

Very few Venezuelans make it through.

"A humanitarian parole is eligible; it’s on a case-by-case basis,” said immigration attorney Ricardo Ramirez. “It’s at the discretion of the officers at the port of entry."

Official U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers show nearly 300 Venezuelans entered the U.S. in the past couple of weeks. That’s compared to more than a thousand every day before the policy change.

The U.S. has been limiting the number of Venezuelans being allowed to wait in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons to 24,000.

Meanwhile, Darwin has this message for other migrants fleeing home: “There will always be challenges, but one way or another, we’ve been able to make it into the U.S.,” Darwin said.

There are also large numbers of Haitians seeking asylum both in Matamoros and Reynosa.

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