CARACAS.- USA became the third country that welcomes the most Venezuelan migrants in the world with the figure of 545,000, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which also show that the total number of migrants and refugees Venezuelans closed the month of November at 7,722,579 people.
Of that figure, 85% (about 6.54 people) are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The UN agency maintains that although a number of Venezuelans have returned to their country, the departure of refugees and migrants from Venezuela to neighboring countries and the rest of the world.
The majority of refugees and migrants from Venezuela who arrive in neighboring countries are families with children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with disabilities. Furthermore, according to a needs assessment that UNHCR and its partners from the Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants of Venezuela (R4V) recently carried out, many of these people have fallen into poverty and are struggling to survive.
Venezuelans have arrived en masse in the last three years to the United States.
According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), nearly 200,000 migrants were detained last September at the Southern border, of which 50,000 were Venezuelans.
According to CBP, there have been four waves of migrant detentions since the pandemic: in December 2021 (24,764), September 2022 (33,749) and April 2023 (29,731), in addition to the record number in September of this year.
Venezuelans have been leaving their country for more than a decade fleeing the economic and humanitarian crisis. Initially, the destinations were other South American countries; However, the increasingly strict immigration restrictions established by countries, the post-pandemic economic crisis and xenophobia have caused Venezuelans to have to look for second and third destinations to migrate, and that is when the United States enters the picture, even when that involves highly risky transfers such as the so-called Darién Gap, between Colombia and Panama, to connect with the North.
“What we have seen in recent months is that with the reduction of economic opportunities in Latin America there has been a wave of Venezuelans who initially fled to countries like Colombia, Ecuador or Peru who are now leaving for the United States,” explains Geoff Ramsey, director for Venezuela of WOLA, BBC Mundo reported.
Another problem is that Venezuelans arrive at the US borders without legal documents to enter the country, and those who manage to do so request asylum or other protection that allows them to work and have access to public services.
The increasing number of migrants has caused immigration chaos in some US cities, such as New York, where more than 120,000 migrants have arrived in the last year, and half of them are Venezuelans. The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, warned that the city is at the limit with public services to be able to provide assistance to migrants.
Source: EDITORIAL / With information from BBC Mundo
