Cuellar: Biden’s Policies Are ‘A Magnet’ for Venezuelan Migrants

On Wednesday’s edition of Bloomberg’s “Sound On” podcast, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) stated that the Biden administration’s policies on migrants from Venezuela “provide a magnet, in many ways” for people from Venezuela to come into the U.S. and that word has gotten out that people from Venezuela “will be paroled one way or the other.”

Host Joe Mathieu asked, [relevant exchange begins around 4:30] “As you know, the administration has put in place exceptions for Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua like we have for Venezuela. Is that helping or creating more problems at the border?”

Cuellar responded, “I understand why they’re doing that, because we don’t have the best relationships with Nicaragua, with Cuba, with Venezuela, but I do want to say that, now, ICE is starting to return people to Cuba and to Nicaragua. Venezuela, that still hasn’t happened because it’s a very difficult country to work with. So, that does provide a magnet, in many ways, to get more people coming in from those countries. And as you know, if you go to Brownsville, what is the number one group that’s coming in? It’s people from Venezuela. So, the word gets out there that you will be paroled one way or the other.”

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