The Other Americans: The United States is Making it Harder for Migrants to Reach the Border

Across Latin America, governments are enacting new visa restrictions or returning to old requirements in response to an uptick in migration. The new visa requirements especially impact migrants and are meant to limit their movement through the region and restrict their access to asylum.

The Women’s Refugees Commission, a global NGO based in the United States, issued a report in June 2022 detailing the U.S.’s hand in the increase of visa restrictions across the region. Since taking office in 2021, the Biden Administration has pressured governments to change entry requirements in countries like Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, and Ecuador. The requirements affect migrants from Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, and Brazil, Colombia, and Cuba, which have all seen a massive uptick in people leaving for the United States in recent years.

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