Venezuelan Sponsorship
Situation
Over the last decade, Venezuelans have faced increasingly dire circumstances in their home country. In addition to violent government repression, Venezuelans are also facing the combined crises of starvation, crime, disease, medicine shortages, and hyperinflation. The escalation of these crises have led to the largest external displacement crisis in the Americas and the second-largest in the world, with over 7 million Venezuelans fleeing to seek refuge in safer countries. UNHCR considers most of those fleeing Venezuelan as in need of international refugee protection.
On October 12, 2022, the Biden Administration announced that a new parole program would allow a sponsorship program for up to 24,000 Venezuelans to come to the United States. This announcement came with an expansion of Title 42 to Venezuelans, meaning that they will no longer be allowed to seek asylum at the US/Mexico border. With this restriction, sponsorship is now the only pathway into the United States for Venezuelans. With only few exceptions, Venezuelans who cross the border, or who present themselves at a US port of entry, will be returned to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum.
Because the US pathway for this vulnerable population is now limited only to sponsorship, the need for sponsors willing to support this population is especially important.
