NEW YORK, CMC – The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organisation that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, on Friday denounced the Joe Biden administration’s plan to resume deportation of Venezuelans without legal status.

In keeping with its commitment to enforce immigration laws and to continue strengthening the consequences for those who cross the United States (US) southern borders unlawfully, the administration announced on Thursday that it will resume direct repatriations of Venezuelan nationals who cross the borders unlawfully and do not establish a legal basis to remain in the country.

The announcement comes two weeks after the administration extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans.

“Nobody wants to leave their home if they don’t have to, let alone make a dangerous and gruelling trek across the Darien Gap just to reach safety in the United States,” Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s executive director, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“The ongoing political, economic and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Venezuela has made living conditions nearly impossible for its people. Deporting individuals back to a country in distress is inhumane and will only serve to put people back in harm’s way,” he added. “The Biden administration needs to stop pandering to right-wing voters by deporting people and building a wall, and should instead do the job they were elected to do: to protect all people regardless of immigration status.

“We need investments in legal services, not detention and deportations,” Awawdeh continued. “We call on the Biden administration to abandon this cruel plan, and immediately stop any deportation flights to Venezuela.

The US announcement followed a decision by authorities from Venezuela to accept the return of Venezuelan nationals, as well as high-level discussions on Thursday in Mexico City between the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Panama, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N Mayorkas and US Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall discussed ongoing coordinated efforts to address irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere.

“This decision is consistent with the administration’s efforts to implement a strategy of humane, safe and orderly enforcement of our immigration laws, and to process individuals in a fair and fast manner,” said the US Department of State in a statement.

“These efforts include the administration’s significant expansion of lawful pathways to enter the United States, including for Venezuelans, which have allowed hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans to enter the country in a safe and orderly manner through our humanitarian parole process and after making an appointment through the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) One mobile application.

“Today’s announcement makes clear that we are committed to strictly enforcing immigration laws and quickly removing individuals who do not avail themselves of these orderly processes and choose to cross our border unlawfully,” it added.