Helping Brazilians, Venezuelans, and Haitians Find a New Home
Words by Diego Munhoz
Edited by Kazi Maisha
When home doesn’t feel like home, people feel it’s time to leave. They look around and see no chance for growth and no chance for change. They want a job to build their way up to some comfort. Insecurity takes the place of comfort. Despair takes the place of hope.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, Venezuelans, and Haitians no longer feel home is a good place to be.
For many years, most of the migration in the U.S-Mexico border came from Mexico and the Northern Triangle, the group of Central American countries composed of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. But since October 2020, over 300,000 migrants from other countries have attempted to enter the United States illegally.
Venezuela, Haiti, and Brazil largely contribute to this number. These countries face political, economic, and health crises, and the U.S. government must take action if it wants to reduce the current chaos down on the border.
Haiti, which may be in the direst situation of all three countries, lives a humanitarian disaster. The country never fully recovered from the massive 2010 earthquake, which killed thousands, and destroyed critical infrastructure. Many Hatians fled the country in the following years and took refuge in South American countries like Brazil and Chile.
Recently, the country entered an even more severe crisis. President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July. He maintained the country under weak democratic institutions and kept close links with gangs. Since his death, the country lacks any type of political leadership and has descended into mayhem. Kidnappings, including the one of 17 North American missionaries, rapes, and murders run rampant. Armed gangs control the country, and its population suffers from hunger.
In Venezuela, the dictator Nicolás Maduro has brutally governed since 2013. His regime has kept an iron fist over institutions and has censored the press. Economically, the country has entered chaos since the end of the commodity boom of the early 2000’s. Inflation is currently at 5,500%, making the currency lose its value and prompting a shortage of jobs and basic goods.
Since Maduro took office, nearly 6 million Venezuelans have fled the country. Over 17,000 of them attempted to enter the U.S. through Mexico in 2021.
Brazil, which hosted thousands of immigrants from Venezuela and Haiti, now experiences its own exodus. Now, Haitians and Venezuelans are not the only groups to leave Brazil in search of a better place, as Brazilians have been doing the same. The country has had a lost decade economically, never recovering from the disastrous financial management of the Dilma Rousseff administration. The current president, Jair Bolsonaro, promised during his campaign to keep a tight grip on government spending. However, just this month, Bolsonaro announced a new welfare plan, which would burst through the spending ceiling established by law. He does this with the goal of increasing his approval rating, which now lives in the low 20s, to be reelected next year.
Bolsonaro’s gross mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the crisis the country lives in. He undermined the virus, encouraged people to disrespect social distancing and mask rules, and promoted the use of a number of medications not proven by science to be effective against COVID.
For his disastrous and criminal behavior during the pandemic, a Senate inquiry recommended he be charged with 9 crimes, including crimes against humanity in the International Court of Justice in Hague.
What the U.S. can do
The United States government needs to take swift action if it wants to reduce the number of migrants at the border. The Biden administration must continue to provide Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status and expand the program to Haitian immigrants. It should also stand firm against the Maduro regime and provide the neighboring countries with the resources to host Venezuelans.
The Biden administration should also expedite the immigrant visa process and asylum requests in Brazil. For over a year, consulates were closed and generated an enormous backlog. Many Brazilians attempted to enter the U.S. through Mexico because they couldn’t file for any status through the consulates during the pandemic.
President Biden can also be more assertive in dealing with Bolsonaro’s government and show that if it wants to have the United States as a partner, it must respect democratic institutions and govern responsibly. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently called for Brazilian “leadership” controlling the increased migration in a call with Brazil’s Foreign Minister. But, as we have seen during the pandemic, Bolsonaro’s government rejects any type of leadership role during difficult times.
Finally, the situation in Haiti requires a more active effort from the U.S. government. The Washington Post editorial board called for intervention in the Caribbean country. “To oppose intervention is to be complicit in the resulting chaos and suffering,” said the Post.
As the Post notes, there have been many traumatic experiences with U.S. intervention in Haiti and other countries. However, the status quo on the island has to be reversed. It is time for the world to help Haiti. Its people are suffering, and they deserve much better than the violent anarchic state they are in. It is time for Haitians to see their home rebuilt.
