Venezuelans suffer racism from the United States

At least 872,000 Venezuelans have arrived in the United States since 2020 in search of the long-awaited American dream. Many of them faced an ordeal to be able to set foot on North American soil, such as crossing the terrible Darién Gap on foot and facing crime or drug trafficking in countries like Mexico. However, few imagined that once the goal was achieved they would face challenges such as the difficulty of finding a stable job due to their immigration status, as well as the xenophobia and racism on the part of some Americans.

Violent xenophobic attack on a Venezuelan migrant

Gregorio Amundarain, 23, has had to deal with difficult situations since he arrived in Washington, the capital of the United States, two years ago. The Venezuelan migrant never imagined that he would suffer a violent attack of xenophobia while trying to make a living.

On September 16, at around 11:00 am, he went on his motorcycle to pick up an order at Canna Coffee, a bar in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. When he went in to show the code of his application to take the order, he saw a dog barking at him.

“I was scared of the dog, so I asked the owner of the bar to come closer to me,” the young man told the newspaper. ABC from Spain.

He asked the manager in Spanish and with gestures, since Amundarain does not speak English well. The owner of the dog and the store, a certain Greg Harris, an African-American, approached him in a rage and forced him to go inside to pick up the order.which was in a paper bag. Before giving it to him, he unleashed a torrent of insults on him.

“Learn English, if you want to make money in America, learn English, I don’t give a shit if you don’t know it, you learn it, learn English, motherfucker, learn fucking English,” he told him.

Amundarain, dressed in his jacket and helmet, waiting for an order for which he was going to earn less than 4 dollars, took out his phone and started recording, saying only that he did not understand while the insults rained down on him. Harris aggressively brought his face closer, frowning and pointing his finger at him: “This is not your fucking country, learn English.”

He then proceeded to imitate the sounds that Amundarain’s Venezuelan Spanish made in his ears in a racist outburst, and slammed the bag with the order on his chest. The delivery man slowly recorded everything. The owner of the restaurant followed him and scolded him aggressively, as if wanting to push him.

The Venezuelan migrant called the authorities to report the situation. “The police arrived about 10 minutes later, I showed the video to the officers. I told them that I wanted to report it because I felt very humiliated. Then the police came in, I waited outside. They talked to him and then left. “They asked me what I wanted to do and I told them to report it,” he said.

The agents, however, explained to him that the video was not enough for a lawsuit and that it was best for him to leave the scene.

Uber, the application for which the young man works, removed the Canna Coffee restaurant from its platform after the subject’s xenophobic attack against the foreigner.

After the young Venezuelan published the video of the attack on TikTok and it went viral, DC authorities ordered the temporary closure of the Canna Coffee Ice Cream Cafe Mocktail Bar Lounge establishment after a health inspection.

DC Health issued a summary suspension due to sanitation concerns, prompting the immediate closure of the business. However, the cafe continued to operate in violation of the order.

“As of September 18, the cafe was closed with the support of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD),” a DC Health spokesperson informed local media.

@gregorio_96

People, I downloaded the TikTok video, share it and spread it, it can’t stay like this

♬ original sound – Gregorio

Venezuelans fear being expelled from the United States

As Venezuelan migration to the United States has increased, authorities began to tighten asylum policies. Initially, Venezuelans were required to process a humanitarian parole, which requires a sponsor, and those who crossed the border on foot were warned that they would be deported. In the following months, immigration policies continued to worsen.

On October 3, CBS reported that Joe Biden’s administration will not extend the legal status of those who arrived in the United States on humanitarian parole. Venezuelans must opt ​​for another benefit to be able to stay in the country. One of the options is to request Temporary Protected Status (TPS), however, to receive it you must demonstrate that you were a victim of political persecution in Venezuela.

There are currently 344,355 Venezuelans in the United States who benefit from TPS. Added to those of the other program There are 461,000 Venezuelans at risk of being expelled.

Donald Trump, Republican candidate, has expressed his intention to renew TPS for Venezuelans, which would put 300,000 citizens at risk of repatriation.