US-Mexico Border: Venezuelan Migrants Deported After Joe Biden's Decision
Emotions filled the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana Thursday, a few hours after President Joe Biden announced that a large group of Venezuelan migrants would be deported from the U.S.
Shortly after Mexico said they would accept the deported Venezuelan, migrants were seen at the El Chaparral crossing port of entry in Tijuana, NY Post reported.
Several women beg for attention by holding onto their things, like papers and water bottles. On the other hand, several young men can also be seen with their arms up.
"We're in despair, we went through so much," Yair Andrade, who arrived in Tijuana through Central America with his wife and kids, told Reuters.
"We still don't know how to enter the program. We can't go back to Venezuela, we have nothing there now," he added.
As part of a deal made on Wednesday, the Biden administration changed its "catch and release" policy, which had let tens of thousands of asylum seekers stay in the country during lengthy legal processes.
It also brought back a rule from the Trump administration, Title 42, which says that Venezuelan migrants who cross the southern border will be sent back to Mexico.
As part of the deal, the US will let 24,000 Venezuelans come to the US for humanitarian reasons by air if they have a sponsor in the US.
There have been no specifics about what Mexico will get out of the deal.
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Some Venezuelan Migrants Are Already Here Before the New Measures Began
The US government started to deport dozens of Venezuelan migrants at the immigration detention center to Mexico Thursday.
However, many claimed they had been in the US before the new measures started.
According to Miami Herald, a group of around 150 Venezuelan from the detention center in Texas was sent to the border by bus.
They were forced to cross the pedestrian bridge connecting El Paso and Ciudad Juárez and greeted by Mexican immigration officials.
Jonathan Rivero, 37, and Jesus Rivero, 26, claimed to be among them and that the new regulations were applied retroactively in their case.
"They took us out without telling us anything. ... They treated us as criminals," Jesus said.
He also claimed that they were taken to the bus without being asked, and when they stopped, they realized they were at the bridge at the US-Mexico border.
Number of Migrants Are Growing at the US-Mexico Border
According to US Customs and Border Protection, 55,333 migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela were found at the border in August. This is a 175% increase from last year.
"Almost four times as many Venezuelans as last year attempted to cross our southern border, placing their lives in the hands of ruthless smuggling organizations," the Department of Homeland Security wrote in its announcement.
It also stated that irregular migration from northern Central America is a quarter lower than last year, according to a report from Nebraska Examiner.
The CBP stated in its report that a high number of migrants undertaking multiple border crossing attempts due to the pandemic's expulsions has resulted in a higher-than-usual number of encounters, which somewhat overstates the number of unique individuals arriving at the border.
Venezuelan migrants who want to move to the US and qualify for the new program must also go through a national screening and public safety process and get their shots up to date.
According to the DHS website, any US citizen, including a company or other groups, may "support a potential beneficiary from Venezuela."
These Americans will need to prove their ability to support their beneficiaries for up to two years.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: Venezuelan migrants turned back to Mexico - From Associated Press
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