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Americas and the Caribbean
Northern America
Migration in Northern America is dominated by migration into the region, primarily to the United States. Nearly 59 million migrants were residing in Northern America from a variety of regions in 2020. This number has increased by around 3 million since 2015, when around 56 million migrants were living in the region. As of 2020, most of these migrants were from Latin America and the Caribbean (around 26 million), followed by Asia (18 million) and Europe (around 7 million). During the last 30 years, the number of migrants in Northern America has more than doubled in size, driven by emigration from Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia, as well as by economic growth and political stability in Northern America.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Migration to Northern America is a key feature in the Latin America and Caribbean region. In 2020, over 25 million migrants had made the journey north and were residing in Northern America. The Latin American and Caribbean population living in Northern America has increased considerably over time, from an estimated 10 million in 1990. Another 5 million migrants from the region were in Europe in 2020. While this number has only slightly increased since 2015, the number of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean living in Europe has more than quadrupled since 1990. Other regions, such as Asia and Oceania, were home to a very small number of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020 (over 400,000 and 200,000 migrants, respectively).
- Office of the Director General’s Special Envoy (OSE) for the Regional Response to the Venezuelan Situation
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Since 2017, the continued departure of migrants and refugees from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has become the second-largest external displacement in the world. To date, over 7.7 million people have left their country, and 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean host 80 per cent of refugees and migrants from Venezuela.
Years into this emergency, millions of Venezuelans in the region still cannot afford three meals a day, do not have safe and decent housing and are unable to work to support themselves and their families. Several countries have initiated large-scaled regularization programmes to realize the full potential of displaced people and the contribution they can make to their communities.
The Office of the Special Envoy is located in Panama City, Panama, and leads the coordination and operational oversight for 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which operate under the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) framework serving as co-lead with UNHCR of the Response for Venezuela (R4V).
Contact:
IOM Office for Special Envoy for the Regional Response to the Venezuelan Situation
Edificio Casa de las Naciones Unidas
C. Teófilo de la Torre 129, Panama City
Panama
Regional Offices
- Central and North America and the Caribbean
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IOM Regional Office for Central and North America and the Caribbean
Edificio Sabana Business Center
Boulevard Ernesto Rohrmoser, San José
Costa RicaTel: +506 2212-5300
Email: ROSanJose@iom.int
Website - South America
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IOM Regional Office for South America
Av. Santa Fe 1460, Piso 5
1060 Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
ArgentinaTel: +5411 4815 5194
Email: ROBuenosaires@iom.int
Website
