Human rights advocates slammed the Biden administration’s new initiative aimed at reducing migration from Venezuela to the southwest border, claiming the program hurts more vulnerable migrants and ignores U.S. asylum obligations.
Under the initiative, part of a bilateral deal with the Mexican government announced Wednesday evening, Mexico agreed to accept Venezuelan migrants sent back from the United States. That will allow border agents to rapidly expel those migrants without considering their claims for asylum.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security also announced a program that would allow up to 24,000 Venezuelans who can find U.S. financial sponsors to fly into the U.S. under a temporary humanitarian status known as parole.
