In recent times there has been a massive inflow of migrants from Venezuela into New York City. According to the New York Times Article “What to Know About the Migrant Crisis in New York City”, there are over 20,000 migrants that have arrived into the city since spring 2022. Many of these migrants fled their country as Venezuela has been struggling economically. While Venezuelans go to neighboring countries, many instead go to the U.S. According to the article there are 7 million Venezuelans who have left the country while Venezuela only has a population of 29 million. Migrants leave their country for many reasons which are often characterized as a combination of push factors (poverty, a lack of opportunity, fear for one’s safety) and pull factors (job opportunities, a chance to be closer to family and friends who have already migrated, freedom from fear).(Dawson 287). It is interesting to note that although many Venezuelans leave because of poverty, there are those that “held assets abroad, and left under circumstances that were favorable to them (many had visas to the US or elsewhere and could migrate with relative ease).”(Dawson 289). For most migrants their reason for migrating is  because of Venezuela’s economy. Venezuela’s economy is in a state of decline which is caused by many factors such as Venezuela’s authoritarian  government along with Trump’s administration placing sanctions on Venezuela oil companies. The oil industry is very important to the economy of Venezuela, with these sanctions put in place it only further harmed their economy.

Venezuela’s migrants are going through what many migrants from other Latin American countries face when they enter the U.S.. One thing that is similar is how Venezuelans often seek asylum in the U.S.. During the 1980’s Central America had over 800,000 migrants who came to the U.S., and seeked asylum claims. President Reagan “insisted that these were economic migrants, not entitled to protection”(Dawson, 275). This led to many of these refugees to obtain legal status to live in the U.S.. Without a legal status many migrants struggled to find work. This can be seen with Venezuelan migrants who aren’t able to work as the article states if “they applied today for asylum, then they would be waiting at least six months before they could get their work permit.”

Attempts to help the Venezuelan migrants have been made. In October 2022, the Biden administration announced a new program that would allow up to 24,000 Venezuealns to be accepted into the country. But it also will expel migrants that cross the U.S. border illegally which has led to migrants being stranded in Mexico. As we can see the migrant crisis has resulted in many issues. Many migrants seek to start a new life in the U.S. but are often put on hold due to the sudden increase of migrants into the country. 

Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2022.
Meko, Hurubie. “What to Know about the Migrant Crisis in New York City.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Oct. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/article/nyc-migrant-crisis-explained.html.