WASHINGTON — The Biden Administration has announced a plan that will accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants at U.S. airports to enter the country lawfully in an effort to deter illegal crossings along the U.S./Mexico Border.
Eligible migrants from Venezuela must secure a financial sponsor in the United States and pass a background check to be granted parole, a humanitarian immigration status that allows beneficiaries to apply for work authorization.
Applicants will also have to pass a rigorous background check and complete vaccinations and other public health requirements.
The sponsor-based program is modeled after a similar policy that since April has allowed Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion to enter the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that Venezuelan migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally will be expelled to northern Mexico under a new agreement with the Mexican government. Venezuelans who illegally enter Mexico or Panama after Wednesday, Oct. 12 will also be disqualified from the parole process.
Immigration advocates like Oscar Chacon are calling it a positive first step, telling WUSA9, "If they have a way of coming with a visa to the country, that is far better than putting their life on the line trying to get to the U.S. border."
Chacon, the executive director for the group Alianza Americas says he is about the cap established by DHS because of the growing number of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the U.S.
"The numbers of Venezuelans, in particular, are large that 24,000 may be very, very small as far as truly accommodating from a humanitarian protection perspective, the degree of the need," said Chacon.
More than 150,000 Venezuelan migrants have been processed from Oct. 2021 to Aug. of this year according to U.S. Customs and Border Protections data.
"These actions make clear that there is a lawful and orderly way for Venezuelans to enter the United States, and lawful entry is the only way," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
Asylum seekers in the U.S. that spoke to WUSA9 question the effectiveness of the program.
Yuveli has been living with her family in a D.C. hotel for the last month. Under the new program, she would not have been eligible to come to the United States because they do not have a financial sponsor.
"I don't agree with the government," said Yuveli in her native Spanish.
The Venezuelan asylum seeker says she left her country after she was forced out of her job and blocked from receiving basic needs after refusing to align with the socialist party. She questions whether people fighting for survival will be able to hold out until their parole process is completed before coming to the U.S.