Ever since President Donald Trump took office, thousands of immigrants living in the United States illegally have been deported. During former President Joe Biden’s administration, is was easier for illegal aliens to come into the United States and remain here by claiming “asylum,” among other things.
Trump’s crackdown now has migrants in many Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas looking to immigrate overseas.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, many Latinos choosing to leave their home countries are heading to Spain, abandoning their “American dream.”
Reportedly, Spain experienced an uptick in the number of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the first quarter of 2025. This was a total of 23,724 requests, a 54 percent increase from the same period the previous year, CBC noted.
"This is just the beginning," Ana María Diez, the o-founder and president of Coalition for Venezuela, told the outlet.
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"Many are now afraid to go to the U.S. with Trump's xenophobic and anti-rights speeches," Diez claimed. "Those are now giving up the American dream to try to pursue the European dream, and obviously, the gateway is Spain."
One migrant CBC spoke to arrived in Spain after being rejected from Austria and his plans for illegally immigrating to the US being derailed (via CBC):
CBC News spoke with a Venezuelan lawyer only three days after his arrival in the Spanish capital. Trump's return to the White House also changed his plans.
"Under Biden, it was already difficult but possible to achieve this, but now, with Trump it is almost impossible," explained the 40-year-old.
CBC agreed to keep his identity confidential because he feared repercussions over his political activism in Venezuela.
After trying Austria a few years ago, where his asylum request was rejected, he returned to his country with the hope of going to the U.S. illegally. But the death of a friend, who drowned while trying to reach the U.S., and the fear of deportation changed his mind.
He now hopes to benefit from a Spanish law that allows children or grandchildren of emigrants with Spanish heritage to apply for citizenship. He hopes to eventually also bring his wife and two children to Spain.
According to El Pais, the number of Latin American-born residents in the Madrid region has surpassed one million. If the group were to form a separate city, it would surpass the population of Santiago, Cuba, Arequipa, Peru, and Valparaiso, Chile.
