The United States government has started to apply its new immigration policy, with which it will deport Venezuelan migrants to Colombia without allowing them to apply for asylum.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Venezuelans will be deported to Colombia.
The US authorities also added that the deportation of migrants will be carried out on a regular basis, although they did not specify how often.
The first two Venezuelans were expelled within this policy last Thursday, January 27. They had entered the United States through the US-Mexico border, but were sent to Colombia on a commercial flight.
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The US government is implementing this measure through a controversial public health order, known as Title 42, which has been in place since March 2020 when the pandemic started.
Under Title 42, US authorities can detain Venezuelans at the southern border and then can quickly expel them, without giving them the opportunity to submit an asylum application.
Since March 2020, the United States has been expelling migrants at the Mexico border under Title 42. The order is named after a public law from 1944, which was invoked in 2020 to implement health policies to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The director of migratory affairs of the International Rescue Committee, Olga Byrne has criticized the measure, considering it harmful since it sends people to dangerous conditions.
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“The Title 42 removals deprive asylum seekers of due process and instead sends them back to similar, if not worse, dangerous situation,” said Byrne.
Colombia’s complicity with the US
The DHS claimed that the expulsion of Venezuelans to Colombia had already been discussed with the Colombian government last December.
At that time, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Colombia had announced that a meeting had been held between the two countries to discuss the deportation of Venezuelans. Colombian authorities had claimed that this was a possibility, but that they would only accept those with their paperwork in order.
Featured image: The United States government has started to deport Venezuelan migrants to Colombia as part of Title 42 policy. Photo: RedRadioVE
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
