(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday confirmed CNN’s report that it will launch a new program aimed at Venezuelan immigrants seeking to come to the United States and will return to Mexico those who cross the border illegally.
CNN first reported that the proposal was under consideration on Tuesday.
The program for Venezuelans is similar to the approach the administration took toward Ukrainians earlier this year. They will need to apply, have a sponsor in the US, and be screened and verified, as well as have a complete immunization schedule. Up to 24,000 Venezuelans will be accepted, the DHS said.
The program comes amid an influx of immigrants of those nationalities at the US-Mexico border, straining border cities and federal resources. In August, 55,333 migrants found at the border were from Venezuela, Cuba or Nicaragua, a 175% increase from last August, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“These actions make it clear that there is a legal and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and legal entry is the only way,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
The plan is intended to serve as an expanded and more orderly process. If the immigrants meet the criteria, then they would be paroled into the US with the ability to work legally as well.
Venezuelans who are not eligible include those who have been ordered to leave the US in the last five years, crossed the border illegally after Wednesday’s announcement, or entered Panama or Mexico irregularly after the date of the announcement. Thousands of Venezuelan migrants have been passing through Panama on their way to the United States.
Venezuelan migrants will also now be sent back to Mexico under a Trump-era pandemic emergency restriction if they cross the US-Mexico border, marking a significant departure from before.
Administration officials have been dealing with mass migration across the Western Hemisphere for months, emphasizing the need for all countries to help ease the flow and create better conditions at home. The issue was again the subject of discussion last week at a meeting of foreign ministers in Lima, Peru.
The shift in demographics — with many of the immigrants now from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua — is exceptionally difficult for the US given, in part, frosty relations with those nations that largely prevent the administration from removing people of those countries.
The proposal being considered is an acknowledgment of the reality that Venezuelans are largely released into the US as they go through immigration procedures and, in some cases, have family or friends they are meeting in the country.
The Biden administration has taken an approach similar to the one being considered with Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country, allowing them to enter the United States and work for a temporary period. That program was established to prevent Ukrainians from reaching the US-Mexico border and to ensure an orderly process.
Poor economic conditions, food shortages and limited access to health care are increasingly pushing Venezuelans to leave, posing an urgent and serious challenge to the administration as thousands arrive at the United States’ southern border. Joined.
More than 6 million Venezuelans have fled their country amid deteriorating conditions, matching Ukraine in the number of displaced people and surpassing Syria, according to the United Nations. More than 1,000 Venezuelans are apprehended daily along the US-Mexico border, according to a Homeland Security official.
Venezuelan migrants cross the Rio Grande from Mexico to surrender to the US Border Patrol on September 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Venezuelans detained at the US-Mexico border are generally paroled into the US and released under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program that monitors people through monitors ankle monitors with GPS, phones, or an app while they go through their immigration procedures. But the latest proposal is expected to take a more organized approach.
The jump in the movement of Venezuelans in the hemisphere emerged during a White House meeting last month with 19 countries from the Western Hemisphere, a senior administration official previously told CNN.
“We found that a lack of coordination leads to more migrants being exploited,” the senior administration official said. “There is consensus that there is value in us working more closely and trying to sync up our policies.”