Illegal Border Crossings Today:

Country Brief: Venezuela | Executive Summary

An In-Depth Look at Migration Trends, the Policies that Attract Illegal Alien Surges, and their National Security Implications

A FAIR Research Report | January 2024

To view the full report, click here

Purpose

FAIR’s Research Division conducted an in-depth review of the migration trends of nationals from Venezuela, the policy decisions that drive the increased flows, and the national security implications of them.  The paper summarizes the geopolitical conditions of Venezuela, and focuses on the numerous pull factors that lead Venezuelans to transit through numerous countries to live, work and remain in the United States.

Highlights

  • Venezuelans are now the second most encountered nationality of illegal aliens at the border.
  • Executive Branch policies — especially parole, Temporary Protected Status and the refusal to use detention as a deterrent — have helped drive up numbers. 
  • Over half a million Venezuelan illegal aliens have been encountered since January 2021.
  • The number of Venezuelan nationals encountered increased 77 percent between Fiscal Years 2022-2023.
  • The Biden Administration’s parole program allows Venezuelans and dual nationals of Venezuela to enter the U.S., even with an expired passport.
  • Venezuela’s government has supplied genuine Venezuelan travel documents to non-Venezuelans, including potential national security threats from countries like Iran. This is especially concerning given Venezuela’s ties to state sponsors of terrorism.

Executive Summary

Illegal immigration from Venezuela used to be relatively low, but this has been changing rapidly as enormous numbers of Venezuelans have entered the U.S. since 2021. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, just 4,520 Venezuelans were encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at America’s borders.[1] In FY 2021, this number grew to 50,499, an eleven-fold increase.[2] In FY 2022, this figure surged again to 189,520, and in FY 2023, CBP encountered 334,914 Venezuelan nationals.[3] This makes Venezuelans the second most commonly encountered nationality at the border, second only to Mexican nationals.[4]

These numbers speak volumes about the scale and speed of mass illegal immigration under the Biden Administration in general, and migration from Venezuela in particular. In total, since President Biden was inaugurated, over half a million Venezuelans have illegally entered the U.S., nearly 58 percent of them having entered in the last fiscal year alone.[5] This marks a 77 percent increase in encounters between fiscal years 2022 and 2023. In the final month of FY 2023 (September 2023), the number of encounters with Venezuelan nationals was nearly double the figure for the previous month.

The Biden Administration has encouraged Venezuelans to come illegally to the U.S. through several policies, including but not limited to: catch-and-release, expanded Alternatives to Detention (ATD), parole,[6] and Temporary Protected Status (TPS).[7]

The challenges posed by mass illegal immigration are compounded by Venezuela’s government practice of issuing travel documents to individuals linked to terrorism.[8] Venezuela has been accused of allowing terrorists to operate with relative impunity, and has increased its ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, another notorious state sponsor of terrorism.[9] While the number of Venezuelan aliens with links to terror, as with all nationalities, is likely to be very low, serious national security considerations are raised by these issues.

Given the dramatic increases in recent years, and considering the risks posed to national security and public safety, FAIR provides solutions to combat the crisis and curb the illegal immigration surges.