Today at WPR, we’re covering a tipping point in the global economy and Russia’s fading influence in Southeast Asia.
But first, here’s our take on today’s top story:
United States: The Biden administration said it would offer temporary protected status, or TPS, to more than 470,000 Venezuelan migrants who arrived in the United States before July 31, allowing them to live and work legally in the country for 18 months. (New York Times)
Our Take: The move comes at a time when an influx of migrants in several Democrat-run cities has strained shelter capacity and social services, leading what is normally a highly politicized partisan issue to also become a highly politicized intraparty issue.
As a result, and as is often the case with U.S. migrant policy, the Biden administration’s response prioritizes expediency over developing a comprehensive approach to addressing the issue. The granting of TPS to Venezuelan migrants already in the U.S. addresses the concerns of local Democratic officials, by allowing Venezuelans already in their jurisdictions to begin fending more for themselves. But the arbitrary cutoff date of July 31 for TPS eligibility highlights the ad hoc—some might say cynical—logic of the decision, which will nevertheless only embolden Republican critics of Biden’s border policies, who argue that the use of TPS incentivizes illegal border crossings.
While this specific decision has mostly to do with U.S. domestic politics, it comes against the backdrop of shifting patterns of migration in Central and South America to which U.S. migrant policy has largely failed to adapt. The number of Venezuelan migrants, in particular, reaching the U.S. border with Mexico has risen dramatically in recent years, but those arriving from other countries, like Cuba, Colombia and Nicaragua, have also increased significantly.
That has led the Biden administration to maintain some of the most-criticized policies of former President Donald Trump, including expelling many asylum-seekers back to Mexico if they do not enter the U.S. through legal pathways. In an effort to ease the crisis at the border, the administration has also established visa-processing centers in Colombia and Costa Rica, with another planned in Guatemala, part of a broader trend among Global North countries to outsource the screening and resettlement of migrants to third countries.
