The Biden administration announced Thursday that it plans to open processing centers in Latin America that would allow qualified immigrants to enter the United States, Canada or Spain legally.
Under the plan – one of several policy changes the Biden administration hopes will reduce illegal migration after the emergency public health order known as Title 42 ends May 11 – people anywhere in the Western Hemisphere they will be able to apply for asylum or refugee status at the nearest processing center and choose which country they would like to migrate to.
During a press conference in Washington, DC, the secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said that the first processing centers will open in Colombia and Guatemala. He said the administration expects at least 5,000 people a month to apply to enter one of the three receiving countries legally.
Mayorkas did not say when the processing centers will open, adding that more information will be provided in the coming weeks. Mayorkas said the administration is also working with other countries to open more centers to reach as many potential migrants as possible and discourage them from relying on human smugglers.
Officials did not say Thursday how many centers they plan to open or if there will be limits on the number of people who can apply.
The agreement between the United States, Canada and Spain is part of the Los Angeles Declaration, which the Biden administration signed last summer. Several leaders from across the Western Hemisphere have agreed to help each other manage the unprecedented number of migrants trying to leave their home countries.
The United States has agreed to resettle 20,000 refugees over the next two fiscal years under the agreement.
During Thursday’s press conference, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that 20 million people have been displaced in the Western Hemisphere in recent years.
“We are facing an unprecedented immigration challenge. Long-term factors like violence, corruption and a lack of economic opportunity continue to push people out of their homes,” Blinken said. “Problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, governance crises, and extreme weather events caused by climate change.”
The administration also announced Thursday that it will create a new family reunification program for people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia. People from those countries will have their background checked and immigration agents will determine on a case-by-case basis if they are eligible to reunite with family members already in the United States.
CBP One, a cell phone-based application, will continue to allow individuals to apply for asylum from their home countries and schedule an appointment with immigration agents at a US port of entry. They can also use the Mexico application if they have already migrated there. The app, which became available to asylum seekers in January, offers around 740 appointments per day at the southern border.
The administration said in a statement that while these measures should help reduce the number of people trying to enter the country illegally, Congress must review the country’s immigration laws, which have not seen a major overhaul since 1986, when the administration Reagan granted amnesty to 3 million people who were in the country illegally, while also making it illegal for employers to hire undocumented immigrants.
“The Biden-Harris administration will do everything in its power to handle this challenge, but until Congress delivers on the immigration reform measures President Biden called for on his first day in office, the US immigration system America will remain broken,” he said in the statement.
Since the Trump administration invoked Title 42 in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, immigration officials have used it 2.7 million times at the southern border to remove migrants to Mexico or their countries of origin. without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum.
Once Title 42 is lifted, immigration agents will continue to enforce immigration laws that could punish immigrants with a 5-year bar from entering the United States legally and criminal prosecution if an immigrant is caught entering illegally. to the country more than once.
“Let me be clear, our border is not open and it will not be open after May 11,” Mayorkas said.
The Biden administration said it also plans to increase deportations once Title 42 is lifted. The administration said that anyone who does not use one of the available pathways to legally enter the country could also be barred from seeking asylum in the future.
Some immigrant rights advocates welcomed the processing centers in Latin America, but said the administration should not bar people from seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border and should include people from Africa.
“Historically, the United States has resettled a very small number of refugees from Latin America, despite the need. This part of the ad may be a much-needed first step in addressing that gap,” said Bilal Askaryar, interim campaign manager for Welcome With Dignity, a coalition of more than 100 immigrant rights organizations across the country.
“However, advocates are seriously concerned that the system could be used in conjunction with an asylum ban at the US-Mexico border, and that people from Africa who do not yet have access to refugee resettlement may be put at risk.”
US Representative Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, applauded the new policies on Thursday.
“For decades our country has chosen to approach immigration as a border issue only, an illogical and damaging approach that has created major challenges at the border,” he tweeted after the announcement. “I am proud that @WhiteHouse has announced the expansion of processing in the country, something that I have called for for a long time.”
