Los Angeles — President Biden and Latin American leaders will sign a new agreement on Friday to confront the consequences of mass immigration, allowing more people to flee political and economic conflicts to cross the border I made a concrete numerical pledge.
The agreement, called the Los Angeles Declaration on Immigration and Protection, promises that the United States will accept 20,000 refugees from Latin America over the next two years, according to White House officials. Biden also promised to increase the number of seasonal worker visas from Central America and Haiti by 11,500.
“Our common humanity requires us to take care of our neighbors by working together,” Biden said, surrounded by leaders from other countries who signed the agreement. Said on the last day of the meeting.
“Each of us is signing up for a commitment to recognize the challenges we all share,” he said. He called the agreement “just the beginning” and added that “more work remains to state the obvious.”
The increasing number of refugees and workers accepted by the United States represents a small proportion of migrants trying to cross the southwestern border, with thousands of migrants per day at a pace of over one million this year. Is flowing. .. But for Mr Biden, the agreement is an attempt to reach a new consensus that all countries in the region have more responsibility for refugees.
In return for the Biden administration’s pledge, other countries have agreed in writing to step up efforts to allow immigrants to enter the United States before arriving in the United States. Mexico has said it will accept an additional 20,000 temporary workers and launch a new program for up to 20,000 from Guatemala looking for a job.
Canada has promised to accept 4,000 refugees from the Americas by 2028. Spain has promised to increase the number of migrant workers it accepts. Costa Rica and Colombia said they would step up efforts to deal with the overwhelming flow of refugees fleeing Venezuela’s political instability.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, who has received tens of thousands of refugees from Colombia and Venezuela in recent years, praised this effort as a good step towards helping the countries most affected by migrants.
“I welcome this summit and here the political will expressed by the Head of State and the delegation,” he said.
In summary, this promise addresses the magnitude of the problem of migration across the western hemisphere, where millions of people are being displaced for work, shelter and security due to poverty, political instability, natural disasters and violence. I’m proving. As part of the agreement, the United States has also committed to a new initiative to crack down on human trafficking. In the last two months, under the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security, the federal government has already sent more than 1,300 people to the Latin American-Southwest border, officials said.
Tamara Tarachuk Bronner, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, said:
She said the agreement stipulates concrete promises, but “the impact will depend on whether the government goes beyond the words of the paper and takes concrete actions. In particular, this agreement. The Byden administration continued to implement abusive immigration policies while drafting. “
Faced with an increase in immigrants, Mr Biden left behind some of the toughest steps initiated by President Donald J. Trump. Their case is heard.
The agreement, announced on Friday, is an attempt by Mr. Biden to find other ways to combat the repeated surge of immigrants at the US border by raising the issue not only in the United States but in the region as a whole.
“No country is solely responsible for this,” Biden said, adding that the countries that signed the document agreed that illegal immigration and trafficking were considered unacceptable and would be subject to new crackdowns. rice field.
“Each of our futures depends on each other,” said the president.
However, the demonstration of unity at the summit was undermined by a boycott of a rally by Mexican leaders and the three Central American countries that make up the North Triangle, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
This declaration was signed by 20 of the more than 30 countries in the Americas, including the United States and Canada. Mexico and the Three North Triangles have signed the agreement, even though the leaders did not attend the summit. However, the White House news releases listing specific commitments by each country did not include news releases from El Salvador and Honduras, which have contributed significantly to the flow of migration to the United States and elsewhere. ..
The news release also did not include a specific promise from Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, the main recipient of Venezuelan immigrants.
The countries that have signed the agreement have promised to accept a small proportion of those who leave their homes seeking to live elsewhere. About 6 million Venezuelans have fled their economic and political turmoil to countries such as Colombia, Peru and Ecuador over the past five years. Faced with gang violence and climate change, Central Americans have made a fresh start not only in the United States but also in Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans who have been subject to crackdowns have moved to Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, about 10 percent of the population is made up of refugees.
The pledges from the countries contained in the Declaration, if realized, will be carried out over years, not days or weeks. And when the United States and other countries are dealing with an imminent border crisis, the impact will almost certainly not be felt in the short term.
Biden administration officials told reporters Thursday night that Mr Biden did not expect all countries in the region to sign the agreement, but authorities did not directly mention the countries that refused.
“We hope that more countries will understand the potential for participation in the Los Angeles Declaration,” Biden said on Friday.
The issue of migration has been mostly a problem since the day Biden took office. Within a few months, a surge in families and unaccompanied children trying to enter the United States overwhelmed border facilities and questioned the government’s failure to ease the regulations imposed by his predecessor. ..
The president has been the target of attacks from the Republicans. Republicans have accused them of being too generous at the border and encouraging immigrants by welcoming them more than Mr. Trump.
But he was also heavily criticized by some of his most enthusiastic allies. He says he should fulfill his promise to end the Trump era program during the presidential election.
President Biden of the Lutheran Immigrant Refugee Service, a national non-profit organization based on faith in serving refugees, “mobilized the Western Hemisphere for a meaningful and feasible solution.” Praised. But she also rebuked the president.
“The United States must recognize and address its shortcomings in defending its humanitarian and legal obligations,” she said, citing ongoing Trump-era policies. “The refugee status determination program is far behind the government’s commitments. Only 12,641 resettlements are settled towards this year’s goal of 125,000, which ends in September.”
“And despite President Biden’s campaign promising to stop using private immigration detention, asylum seekers awaiting court hearings will be taxed by billions of dollars by huge prison beneficiaries. She is still exposed to inhumane situations because she is raked up. “
Anatoly Kurmanaev When Miriam Jordan Report that contributed.