The Biden administration will reportedly establish immigrant processing centers in Latin America to “slow down” the number of migrants making their way to the United States ahead of Title 42’s expiration, Politico reported on Thursday.
According to the report, processing centers will be set up in Guatemala and Colombia in the coming weeks. A memo obtained by Politico suggested that other centers could be established in Ecuador and Costa Rica (via Politico):
U.S. international partners, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, will screen migrants at these centers and determine if they qualify for entry before the migrants can try to move on to the U.S. southern border. If eligible, migrants will be referred for refugee resettlement or other lawful pathways such as parole programs, family reunification or existing labor pathways. Migrants will also receive local information about host countries and available social services.
Title 42, a border policy that allows federal agents to expel migrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will end on May 11. Reportedly, Canada and Spain have agreed to accept referrals from the processing centers.
“The whole model is to reach the people where they are — to cut the smugglers out and to have them avoid the perilous journey that too many do not make. But we are beginning in Guatemala and Colombia. We are beginning at the level that I described, and we will scale up,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Thursday.
This week, Sarah reported that the CBP One app has approved 99 percent of migrants seeking exceptions to Title 42 to enter the United States. Critics of the app have described it as a “welcome mat” for illegal immigrants.
And, earlier this year, Biden claimed that Title 42 makes the border crisis “worse” because the migrants who are turned away will come back multiple times and try to enter the United States again.
When Title 42 was initially expected to end, border towns like El Paso, Texas, began to see tens of thousands of migrants prepare to enter the country, which Townhall covered. A massive tent was constructed in the El Paso area to process migrants. Shelters on the Mexican border were full of migrants waiting for the policy to be lifted. Around the same time, reports showed that DHS had moved more than 3,400 migrants out of the city through Title 42 expulsions or ICE expedited removal flights.