13, October, 2022
Mexico and the United States have agreed a migration deal which offers hope to some, but closes the door to many more. James Blears with the details.
This migration accord, which is effective immediatly, is called the Humanitarian Parole Program and has been announced by US Homeland Security. It focuses upon a minority of Venezuelans who want to leave their country, due to its worsening economic downturn. From today, twenty-four thousand Venezuelans will be able to fly to the United States and stay there for up to two years, on condition that they are currently still in Venezuela. They will require a sponsor or an organization within the United States to vouch for them. This is strictly on condition that they haven't taken part in the trek from South America to North America and tried to illegally cross the Border into the United States. Those who've reached US soil via these means, now face expulsion into Mexico, and their opportunity to claim asylum is gone.
This resolution doesn't address the growing plight of more than seven million Venezuelans who form an exodus, leaving their country due to its dire conditions. A recent report by the United Nations International Organization for Migration, puts their crisis into stark focus. It states that almost three quarters of these migrants wandering within the vast expanse of Latin America, don't have enough to eat, and they lack housing, medical care or jobs. Half of them don`t eat three square meals a day, and children are particularly affected. This new deal doesn`t embrace or include them.