2023-04-19 07:01:00
Colombia could be going through the largest exodus in the last two decades compared to figures in the region. In an unprecedented event, US border authorities reported that Colombians ranked second in people detained for irregular documentation so far this year.
The country was surpassed only by the indestructible Mexico, which had a total of 82,219 and has always occupied first place given its number of inhabitants and its proximity to the United States. With these data, Colombia surpassed nations such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Cuba, territories that always used to be in the first places due to socioeconomic instability.
According to data from the United States Customs and Border Protection office – known as CBP for its acronym in English – only during the month of March a total of 17,491 compatriots were detained in the United States after being found irregularly in the country. .
That was the case of Andrés, a citizen from eastern Antioquia who lived in the United States for only three days after a long journey that cost him and his partner around 20 million pesos.
In dialogue with this newspaper, Andrés said that he bought tickets to Mexico and from there he crossed the border pursuing the so-called American dream. “These were very difficult conditions. The whole time we were afraid that they would send us back until it finally happened. While at the southern border, a gringa patrol caught a group of undocumented immigrants and detained us for less than a day. Then we were sent back to Mexico and deported from there, ”said the Antioquian who preferred to keep his name confidential.
Like him, Andrés met dozens of Colombians who lived the same journey as him and who, in the end, were returned with mistreatment and a warning not to return. “I tried to get the visa twice and they didn’t give it to me. With this deportation it is almost impossible. They told us a lot not to insist on coming back,” he said.
But, despite these explicit warnings from the Joe Biden government not to migrate to their country, Colombians continue to progressively increase the number of detainees. According to the Border Patrol, during January 9,000 Colombians were detained, in February 13,000 and in March 17,491, which means that last month it almost doubled the first registration of the year.
But the increase is even more apparent when measured in US fiscal years, which run from October of one year to September of the next.
Official figures show that during 2020 some 2,000 Colombians were detained, in 2021 another 10,000, and in 2022 the figure rose to 130,970. Now, so far this fiscal year, US patrols have detained 92,000 compatriots, which would mean an increase of around 28% by the end of the year.
The meeting between Petro and Biden
Thus, the historical increases in Colombian migrants who arrive in the US to stay irregularly come amid the controversial projects of the State of Florida to criminalize irregular migration (See what follows) and ad portas from the first face to face between Biden and President Gustavo Petro that will have migration as one of the main axes.
Until now, the Casa de Nariño has held meetings with Mexico and US delegates to assess the treatment received by Colombian tourists who are not admitted for fear that they will stay in the Latin American country to cross the border. However, Petro is expected to elaborate on these requests before Biden and, in addition, to speak in detail about the request made by the Colombian Government to eliminate the tourist visa for the country.
The truth is that this high-level meeting that will take place this Thursday at the White House will be chaired by these reports that do not leave the country in a good position, since it is the first time that the number of detainees exceeds that of other nations historically affected by the policies that lead its citizens to seek a better country. Will that play against the president for his domestic policy? That remains to be seen.
What’s next: Florida harshly criminalizes irregular migration
The increase in numbers occurs in the midst of an increasingly complicated international context for irregular migrants. As it became known last week, the Governor of the State of Florida, USA, filed a project with which they claim that anyone who helps or mobilizes the undocumented population would be committing a crime. Added to that, local governments would be expressly prohibited from allocating funds to those people who cannot prove legal status in the United States. Finally, the project also seeks to force health services to report the immigration status of their patients.
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