Venezuelans Propelled to U.S. By Crisis, Not Immigration Policy

Venezuelans have left their country, and a small percentage have come to America due to a historic economic and political crisis, not U.S. border policies, according to a leading expert on Venezuela. Ricardo Hausmann, founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, says it’s important for U.S. policymakers to understand why Venezuelans have left their country and how more welcoming policies can benefit Venezuelan refugees and the United States.

The Biden administration has established a parole program for up to 24,000 beneficiaries. The parole provision is restricted to Venezuelans who “agree to fly at their own expense to an interior U.S. port of entry (POE), rather than entering at a land POE,” among other limitations. “At the center of the Venezuela plan is a trade-off that would deny the right to seek asylum to Venezuelans who arrive at or irregularly cross the U.S. border and substitute for that a program that will allow up to 24,000 Venezuelans with sponsors in the United States who can support them financially to apply to enter the United States,” said Bill Frelick of Human Rights Watch.

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