US military pressure on Venezuela bolsters asylum claims for thousands of migrants

The deployment of U.S. military forces along Venezuela’s maritime borders — which includes three destroyers, fighter jets, submarines, and 4,000 Marines as part of an operation against drug trafficking— strengthens the arguments of thousands of immigrants who have expressed fear of returning to their home countries for security reasons.

“These actions by the United States government are evidence that can be added to asylum cases to demonstrate a well-founded fear of returning to countries where these cartels operate and have taken over certain regions — for example, in Mexico, Venezuela, or parts of Colombia, where there are areas controlled by guerrillas and cartels,” said John De la Vega, an immigration attorney, in a video published by Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid. “Migrants need to seek this information and add it to their asylum cases.”

Historically, U.S. democracy has offered asylum to thousands of foreigners persecuted for their nationality, race, religion, political opinions, or membership in a social group. Asylum could be requested at the border or while inside the country, as was the case for thousands of migrants who arrived with temporary permissions such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or humanitarian parole. After the Trump administration canceled both programs, migrants have had to rely solely on asylum. The problem is that Washington is also attacking the asylum program, and eliminating or drastically reducing it is part of this offensive.

The latest move has been to urge immigration judges (who are part of the executive branch, not the judicial branch) to dismiss cases at a record pace. Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University confirms that in March alone, 76% of applications were denied.

In June, the Department of Justice escalated the effort by sending a memo to judges instructing them to quickly approve dismissal requests presented orally by attorneys from the Department of Homeland Security. Signed by Sirce Owen, acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the memo outlines new “legal standards” empowering judges to review and reject asylum cases deemed “legally insufficient.”

“Oral Decisions must be completed within the same hearing slot on the day testimony and arguments are concluded,” says the memo, which is dated May 30. It also tells the judges that “[n]o additional documentation or briefing is required” to grant the dismissals.

If an asylum case is denied, the individual is subject to expedited deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, which has occurred in recent months with hundreds of migrants arrested in the hallways or outside immigration courts nationwide.

The Trump administration justifies its actions by blaming its predecessor, Joe Biden, for allowing asylum claims based on reasons outside those established by the mechanism. Earlier this year, 3,687,750 active immigration cases were still pending resolution, according to TRAC data.

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