Twenty American countries pledged this Friday to expand opportunities to migrate legally and strengthen regional cooperation to contain the growing arrival of undocumented immigrants at the border of the United States and other countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador or Costa Rica.
The so-called “Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection”, a kind of continental code of conduct on migration issues, was signed in an act presided over by the US President, Joe Biden, on the last day of the IX Summit of the Americas, held in the Californian capital.
“No nation should shoulder this responsibility alone,” Biden stressed.
Twenty countries signed the text, including the United States, Mexico and four countries from which many of the undocumented migrants who try to reach US territory come: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti.
The text was signed by the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti, the last four from which many undocumented migrants come.
It was also signed by most of the countries of transit and destination of many Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants who have traveled the continent in recent years: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Belize. , Panama, Canada, Jamaica and Barbados.
However, three countries of origin of many of the undocumented migrants who transit through the region did not sign the declaration: Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaraguawhom the US government decided not to invite to the Summit of the Americas, considering that they are not democratic.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, explained this Friday that he trusts that more countries will join the declaration that 20 nations of the American continent signed to tackle the migration crisis in the region.
“Twenty countries have joined and I hope more will come as time goes by,” said the head of US diplomacy.
The White House promoted the declaration to improve the way in which “responsibilities are shared” for irregular migratory flows, in a context of records in the arrival of undocumented immigrants at the southern US border, an issue that generates political pressure for Biden at the internal level. .
According to Blinken, it is the first time in America that the countries of origin, transit and destination of migration come together to “share responsibility” in the migration challenge.
One of the principles of the declaration is to promote “safe immigration”, in which it guarantees “dignified and humane” treatment, but it also commits all the signatories to “enforce the laws” and deport irregular immigrants who arrive in their territories.
Biden’s message at the signing ceremony of the summit was resounding: his priority is “stopping the dangerous and illegal ways in which people are migrating” in the region.
“Illegal migration is not acceptable, and we are going to secure our borders,” warned US President Joe Biden.
“Illegal migration is not acceptable, and we are going to secure our borders,” warned a president who has received criticism for keeping the so-called Title 42 standing, a measure protected by the pandemic by which the US automatically deports most of the undocumented immigrants arriving at its southern border.
Although Biden announced this year his intention to lift that measure, a federal judge has forced him to keep it in force for now, and although that rule prevents most of those who arrive from seeking asylum, the flow has only increased, with a caravan than 15,000 people advancing this week through southern Mexico.
The signatory countries of the declaration undertook to “strengthen and expand migration routes through temporary work programs”, in addition to family reunification programs and the regularization of migrants, with some specific commitments.
Mexico will launch a new temporary work program to give opportunities to between “15,000 and 20,000 workers from Guatemala” each year, with the intention of expanding it in the medium term to also include Honduras and El Salvador.
In addition, Mexico will integrate 20,000 refugees into the formal labor market within the next three years, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“Mexico has increasingly become the leader in the region on these issues,” a senior US official, who requested anonymity, told reporters.
For its part, Canada reaffirmed that it plans to receive more than 50,000 agricultural workers from Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean this year; while Spain – an observer country – has agreed to “double” the number of legal channels for Honduran workers to participate in the Spanish circular migration programs.
The United States also committed to increasing its quota of refugees from the Americas to 20,000 for 2023 and 2024, with special priority for Haitians, whose exodus affects the entire continent; and announced 314 million dollars in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans inside and outside their country.
The commitments of the United States also include a promise to resume “this summer” the family reunification program for Cuba
The commitments of the United States also include a promise to resume “this summer” the family reunification program for Cuba, and “in the early fall” another similar one created in 2014 for citizens of Haiti, both suspended during the Administration of Donald Trump (2017 -2021).
The White House already announced in May that it would resume its program so that certain Cubans who are citizens or permanent residents in the United States can bring their relatives to the country, and this Friday it specified that it will process cases again “this summer,” contacting those who They have pending applications.
Costa Rica promised to renew the special temporary protection status for migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who had arrived before March 2020, and Biden particularly appreciated the efforts made by that country and those of Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso, stressed during the act that it is “urgent to promote development opportunities in countries of origin, on the one hand, and on the other, promote actions to identify and dismantle the international mafias that control irregular migration.”
One of the announcements from the United States focused on this last point, revealing that for two months an “unprecedented” covert operation has been active to dismantle human trafficking networks throughout Latin America, with more than 1,300 agents deployed throughout the region. and 50 million dollars invested.
The US Department of Homeland Security estimates that this has already caused “900 fewer migrants to arrive at the US southern border every day,” and ensures that its efforts have “just begun,” according to an official statement.
The declaration was well received by experts and defenders of migrant rights, although the International Rescue Committee (IRC) stressed in a statement that “it is not clear how these commitments will be monitored” and that they may fall on deaf ears “without funding to long term and political will”.
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