Building on Regular Pathways to Address Migration Pressures in the Americas
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Highlights
Despite a rich history of regular immigration pathways, the Americas still struggle with irregular migration. Hemispheric cooperation and reformed mobility agreements are needed.
- Six regional agreements—including MERCOSUR, CARICOM, and the CA-4—form the backbone of regular migration in the Americas, but uneven implementation limits their reach. Between 2009 and 2022, MERCOSUR alone granted 3.9 million residence permits.
- In 2023, more than 520,000 migrants crossed the Darién jungle irregularly—a record—underscoring that existing legal pathways fall far short of managing mobility pressures across the hemisphere.
- Governments have used creative humanitarian pathways beyond asylum. Between October 2022 and December 2023, approximately 320,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived in the United States under the CHNV parole program.
- Recommendations include standardizing regional agreements, leveraging private-sector interest, building on-ramps to permanent status in humanitarian pathways, and investing in data collection to better understand migration flows.
Human mobility has increased in the Western Hemisphere, due in part to a series of large-scale displacement crises. In response, many countries have been experimenting with new legal pathways to incentivize safe, orderly migration, while also tightening restrictions on irregular movement. Even with this policy experimentation, however, governments are struggling to effectively manage migration pressures, as demonstrated by persistent high levels of irregular migration that have challenged destination and transit countries alike.
Understanding the tapestry of regular migration pathways that exists in the Americas, and what those pathways’ strengths and weaknesses are, is critical amid ongoing national and international policy conversations about how to address migration pressures.
This report maps the legal pathways that exist in the hemisphere at present, including those created by regional mobility and residence agreements, visa and circular labor migration policies, and humanitarian protection measures. The analysis highlights commonalities and differences, notable limitations, and ways in which these pathways could be improved or expanded to offer viable alternatives to irregular movement and thus fit within governments’ aspirations to ensure safe, orderly, and regular migration.
Para leer este reporte en español, haga clic aquí.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction: Why Regular Pathways Matter
2 A Brief History of Regular Pathways in a Mobile Hemisphere
3 Mobility and Residence Agreements
4 Circular Labor Migration Pathways
5 Other Visa Policies and Residence Pathways
6 Humanitarian Protection Pathways
7 Opportunities to Build on Regular Pathways to Better Manage Migration in the Americas
Latin America and Caribbean Initiative
The Initiative combines rigorous research with direct engagement of governments, institutions, and stakeholders to help build orderly, rights-respecting migration systems across one of the world's most dynamic migration regions.
About the Global Program
The Global Program bridges policy advice, research, and candid dialogue to design effective migration policies, drawing on global evidence and anticipating the forces reshaping how people move.
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