McALLEN, Texas ( Border Report )— U. S. officials are in Guatemala City, Guatemala, this week to join in conversations with other countries from the Northern Hemisphere regarding ways to combat unusual migration and enhance local border security.
Over 20 nations will attend the next Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection Ministerial meeting on Tuesday in Guatemala, according to senior administration officials, who spoke to reporters on Monday night during a call with the media on Monday morning.
A senior administration official said that regional collaboration is effective in reducing migrants ‘ attempts to cross the United States ‘ Southwest border, including the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, and another that was held that year in Lima, Peru.
” All of these work and what we are doing geographically are successful. According to a senior administration official,” we are seeing a considerable decline this year as opposed to the previous two years, and we are attributed to the effects we are imposing at our borders as well as the enforcement efforts our partners in Mexico and the further south are also taking,” We look forward to the meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow in Guatemala to maintain these discussions with our lovers because this is a shared role for the U.S. and the location.
President Joe Biden and 20 different regional leaders signed a movement agreement at the first gathering in Los Angeles.
At the same time, the United States announced that it would provide millions of dollars in aid to aid charitable work and promote employment opportunities.
Senior management officials announced a second statement on Monday, involving” a multi-million money commitment tomorrow, providing humanitarian and development help to foster integration of immigrant communities… and efforts to fully integrate migrants.”
No additional information was given, except that officials said this is new cash, never recently announced.
The United States committed$ 331 million in long-term growth and humanitarian aid to the place in 2022. The U.S. Agency for International Development even made the pledge:
- $ 171 million in humanitarian assistance to what it called the” Venezuela regional crisis”, which included$ 72.7 million for health care, food nutrition and other services through United Nations agencies and non- governmental organizations, and$ 98.2 million for Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
- $ 35.9 million  , to promote the social and economic integration of millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in South America through policy reform, pathways for legal status, professional certification, job training and placement.
- $ 4.1 million in Central America to increase job opportunities in Belize, Costa Rica and Panama.
A senior administration official said,” Migration presents a difficult challenge, but one we believe we can control if we coordinate our work, create legal solutions for people to travel, settle, and prosper, and, of course, address the root causes.” ” We’ll share the progress we’ve made with our combined efforts, and identify next steps”.
Main emphasis during this week’s talks will center on these three discussions:
- By addressing the root causes of migration and supporting local communities where migrants are moving, the organization is promoting regional stability.
- establishing legal pathways and refugee resettlement programs in the United States.
- Working with regional partners to manage migration “in a humane way” and strengthening border enforcement, according to officials.
In the first four months of Fiscal Year 2024, officials predicted a 40 % decrease in encounters along the Southwest border from Fiscal 2023.
They cited the aggressive repatriation of people who were not eligible to remain in the country, which resulted in record-speed removals and repatriations of people across the border. That includes removals to 170 countries.
From May 12— when Title 42 was lifted — until April 3, DHS has removed or returned over 690, 000 people, most of whom crossed the Southwest border, including over 105,000 family members, U. S. Customs and Border Protection reports.
But DHS has permitted over 435, 000 nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to arrive at the border using the U. S. humanitarian parole processing requirements, the official said.
Also, 547, 000 migrants have been allowed to schedule asylum interviews via the agency’s CBP One app since last May, the official said.
The agency reported that in March, Border Patrol recorded 137, 480 migrant encounters between U. S. ports of entry on the Southwest border — a 45 % drop from December 2023, and a 16 % drop from March 2023.
According to sources, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 128, 949 people in April. The San Diego Sector led with 37, 374 encounters, followed by Tucson with 31, 245, and El Paso with 30, 411.
Additionally, officials on Monday disclosed that the State Department had placed visa restrictions on the heads of several Colombian transportation companies accused of transporting migrants without authorization to the dangerous Darrien Gap in Panama.
The senior official stated that” we will collaborate globally with our partners to share information so we can take action to deter and stop irregular migration and better identify and expel various actors.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at [email protected].
