Latin Americans react to Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda (+Español)
After his victory in the 2024 elections, Donald Trump announced an immigration policy centered on border security and immigration control. The president-elect has stated that he aims to launch a campaign of mass deportations that will affect millions of persons in the country whose status is irregular. He has also indicated his intention to revert a number of policies of legal immigration implemented by the Biden Administration, with the purpose of restricting the entry of certain specific groups and reduce the immigrant population in the long term. Some of his most notable proposals are the suspension of the Humanitarian Parole Program instituted by the outgoing administration, which allows for the monthly entry of up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The Biden Administration had previously announced new anti-immigrant measures, prior to the November 5 election, in support of the Kamala Harris campaign, which Trump accused of being soft on dealing with massive border crossings. The new regulations implemented by Biden sought to toughen restrictions to asylum seekers at the border between United States and Mexico, making access to this benefit even more difficult and increasing the deportation of undocumented immigrants. They include eliminating automatic asylum for those foreigners that enter illegally or do not have a cause to remain in the United States when the border is congested. Also, they implemented expedited deportation for those that lack the established requirements for entry. The Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, of Cuban descent, emphasized that it will be significantly more complicated to obtain asylum in the United States and warned that those who cross the border illegally will face severe consequences.
Reacciones latinoamericanas a la agenda antiinmigrante de Trump (+English)
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, until October of last year, 531,000 citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela – of those more than 111,000 Cubans – entered the U.S. legally on parole. In addition, almost 151,000 undocumented Cuban immigrants were intercepted at the Mexican border in fiscal year 2023-2024. What will become of them under Trumps’ anti-immigrant offensive?
Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Relations, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, in a press conference at the end of the round of bilateral talks on migration issues between Cuba and United States, held this past December 4, declared that “Cuba expressed concern about the number of Cubans that are in the United States in a legal limbo, who were given entry but have not been granted a concrete legal status. This is an important issue for us.” The U.S. has not granted formal legal status to those that cross the border, which should be the parole. Instead, they are given a temporary permit, known as Form I-220A, that does not qualify them for parole, and thus they can be deported at any time.
In a recent decision, the U.S. Immigration Appeals Board ruled that the I-220A, or conditional release, granted to a Cuban after being detained when crossing the border, cannot be considered a humanitarian parole. As a result, it lacks the benefit of future residency granted under the Cuban Adjustment Act. This decision can potentially affect thousands of Cubans that have received the I-220A after being released when detained at the border.
The Cubans that have entered the U.S. under the I-220A have not been admitted into the country while satisfying the requirements of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. That law allows eligible Cubans to apply for permanent residence one year and one day after entering the country, a privilege not granted to migrants of other nationalities, that has allowed hundreds of thousands of Cuban immigrants to settle legally in the U.S. during the last 60 years.
“We have heard statements made by some U.S. politicians [about possible mass deportations], and it is important to remember that Cuba and the U.S. have signed migration accords and any issue of this nature, including deportations, have to be treated within the framework established by these agreements,” said Vice Minister Fernández de Cossío, and he declared that “it is not realistic to expect mass deportations from the United States to Cuba. …Deporting tens or hundreds of thousands of Cubans to Cuba would mean uprooting people who have established a life in the US, who work there, many of whom have formed families there,” he said.
Mexico has gone further in its support for its fellow nationals abroad. President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, on December 27, presented the Program of Support for Mexicans in the United States, which calls for strengthening its 53 consulates in the country; launching an Information and Assistance Center for Mexican Persons to provide legal support via telephone; an application named Alert Button for emergency cases; as well as implementing a “one-stop window” for consular affairs.
“They should know that they have rights, that someone cannot be seized, taken to the border and deported. They need to follow certain legal procedures that are established in the United States. So, we are carrying out this campaign through our consulates so that Mexicans learn of their rights. And in case of a detention, they can call the consulate and receive all the necessary legal and judicial support,” she pointed out.
As part of the strategy and per instructions of the Mexican president, the Program of Legal Aid strengthened its External Legal Consulting by hiring 329 legal consultants. Together with the network of consulates, they will verify that due process is complied with in cases of detention of fellow nationals.
The National Commission on Human Rights of Mexico (CNDH, its initials in Spanish) also pledged to support the actions of president Claudia Sheinbaum in favor of migrant persons. CNDH will back the work of the government of Mexico in the defense of the human rights of migrants through the Program of Legal Aid through External Legal Consulting, in labor, civil, penal, migratory and administrative matters. In addition, it will ensure the verification of due process and guarantees of consular notification; keep tabs on the revisions of anti-immigrant laws and state actions through an observatory; and promote the program “Know and Exercise Your Rights” to prevent and respond quickly to detentions, raids and other intimidatory actions.
President Sheinbaum has proposed a regional summit of foreign ministers for this month on migration to coordinate actions among the Latin American countries, with the double purpose of reducing irregular immigration and protecting immigrants in the U.S. “We will always defend our brothers and sisters who live in the United States,” she declared.
In Honduras, President Xiomara Castro threatened to force out the U.S. military bases in that country if Trump cancels the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Hondurans in the U.S. “Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to reconsider a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena,” declared Ms. Castro
The so-called Project 2025, embraced by Donald Trump, aims to establish an exclusionary migratory policy. The plan includes mobilization of legal and military resources to facilitate the expulsion of up to 11 million undocumented immigrants. Among the most controversial measures is the elimination of the TPS and the revocation of programs such as DACA and the Humanitarian Parole.
Honduras is one of the countries, together with Haiti, Venezuela and El Salvador, designated by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to benefit from TPS. The USCIS can grant TPS to eligible nationals from the above countries already in the United States “due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” TPS is a temporary benefit that does not lead to lawful permanent resident status or give any other immigration status, but during a designated period, they “are not removable from the United States, can obtain an employment authorization document, and may be granted travel authorization.”
Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are the countries with the greatest number of undocumented immigrants in the United States, after Mexico. They would be the most affected by mass deportations, said Jason Houser, former chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Biden administration. Since 2015, Honduras has received around half a million deportees. “There is no capacity” to receive so many people, said Antonio García, Honduran Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. “There is very little for the returnees.” Those who come back, he said, “are at the back of the line.”
The announcement by Donald Trump about mass deportations and the possible elimination of the right to citizenship by birth represent a direct threat for thousands of Salvadoreans that live in the United States. These measures would affect severely not only migrant families but would also have deep social, economic and political repercussions in El Salvador.
Remittances sent by Salvadoreans that live in the United States constitute the backbone of the national economy, contributing approximately 24 % of the GPD in 2023. Mass deportations would threaten this vital flow, and thousands of families would lose their principal source of income. This would not only affect the financial stability of the receiving households but could also reduce the country’s growth rate, intensifying inequality and increasing poverty.
On the other hand, the arrival of the deportees in mass would complicate even more the already saturated labor market. The lack of opportunities could force many of them into informal jobs or, even worse, increase their vulnerability in the face of criminal organizations that continue to operate.
Haiti already faces mass deportation even before Trump’s threats. Tens of thousands of persons have been returned in the last month — almost 61,000 migrants according to the most recent government figures, principally from the Dominican Republic. Dominican President Luis Abinader recently committed to deporting some 10,000 Haitian migrants per week. In October, the United States repatriated 258 Haitians, while Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica and the Bahamas deported a combined total of 231, said the spokesperson for the Returnees and Refugees Support Group in Haiti.
The Haitian representative before the Organization of American States, Gandy Thomas, said that mass deportation of undocumented Haitian immigrants is defined as an immoral and repressive act that violates the fundamental principles of international law.
Incoming President Trump has threatened to intensify economic sanctions and review the purchase of Venezuelan oil if Nicolás Maduro rejects mass deportations of immigrants from his country. These measures could exacerbate even more the financial and diplomatic crisis faced by the South American nation. According to recent data, 15 deportation flights that repatriated 1,799 Venezuelans were carried out in January 2024. Therefore, if Caracas refuses to accept these flights it could aggravate the tensions and unleash a new series of economic sanctions. Trump, who imposed an oil embargo on Venezuela in 2019, could resort to similar measures to intensify the pressure on the Bolivarian government.
With the declarations of Vice Miniter Carlos Fernández de Cossío against mass deportations by the U.S. and in favor of the legalization of the status of recent Cubans arrivals to that country that have been denied parole, Cuba joins the Latin American nations that actively defend their fellow nationals on U.S. soil and face up to the anti-immigrant policies announced by Trump, scheduled to go into effect as soon as he occupies the White House on January 20. The regional summit of foreign ministers announced by Claudia Sheinbaum and convened by Xiomara Castro, president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for the period 2024-2025, will evidence the will of the countries below the Rio Grande to present a united response to this new aggression by their northern neighbor.
