Millions of people, in numbers not seen in decades, are leaving their homes across Latin America heading to the United States. While the crossing of immigrants at the southern border of the U.S. has always been intense, the pandemic and the ensuing recession hit Latin America harder than anywhere else in the world, plunging millions into hunger, misery, and despair.
Years of progress against extreme poverty have been decimated. Unemployment has reached its highest level in two decades. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine blocked a major route for grains and fertilizers, causing food prices to soar.
The economic shocks have been exacerbated by violence, as conflict between armed groups has grown in once relatively peaceful countries and spread further in places already accustomed to terror.
In this context, human traffickers are launching powerful campaigns on social media, many filled with misinformation, encouraging people to migrate to the United States.
This means that with the suspension of the policy known as Title 42, instituted during the pandemic, starting this Thursday (11), the U.S. is likely to face an even greater challenge than it did when the measure allowing the immediate expulsion of immigrants crossing the border illegally was first imposed three years ago.
However, starting today, immigrants who enter the country illegally will have the opportunity to apply for asylum, something many were prevented from doing during the three years the public health restriction was in effect.
The qualification will not be easy – the Biden administration is implementing new eligibility restrictions – and if the process works as planned, many will still be deported relatively quickly.
But the growing flow of people in northern Mexico could overwhelm the system, meaning more people, especially families and children, may be released in the U.S. with a notice to appear before an immigration judge.
Social media is being used to falsely announce changes in the rules at the border. On TikTok, posts with the hashtag #titulo42 have been viewed over 96 million times. One of the most viewed posts claimed: “May 11: you cannot be deported. Title 42 has ended.”
Many immigrants come from places like Venezuela, which was already experiencing one of the worst economic crises in the world before the pandemic. Much of the country sank even deeper into misery when Covid-19 shut the world down. A mass exodus of people deepened, raising the total number of Venezuelans who have fled since 2015 to 7.2 million – approximately a quarter of the population.
In Colombia, where worker protections are weak, unemployment has reached the highest rate ever recorded. Brazil recorded the second highest number of Covid deaths in the world. Immigrants who had already traveled from Latin America to these two countries were among the first to lose any hope for a better life.
Nicaraguans have historically migrated north in relatively small numbers. But inflation, falling wages, and an increasingly authoritarian government have led hundreds of thousands to leave the country in recent years.
Gang violence and homicides have exploded in the relatively calm Ecuador. Haiti has been hit by a cholera outbreak, an extreme hunger crisis, and a war between armed criminal groups – all at once.
Since taking office, according to federal data, the Biden administration has allowed about 1.8 million immigrants to remain in the country while awaiting asylum hearings, many of whom surrendered after crossing the border.
Reporting by The New York Times.
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