But it is unclear how quickly the expanded efforts may affect the flow of illegal immigration.
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The U.S. also announced Tuesday an expansion of a program that allows Central American minors to apply for protection in the U.S. from their home countries. But that’s only a sliver of the 68,541 children stopped at the border in 2014 and the 39,970 of unaccompanied minors apprehended the following year. The State Department screened more than 6,800 applicants and the Department of Homeland Security completed about 2,900 final interviews with applicants, approving about 2,880 people for resettlement, he said. This agreement was a product of the meeting between President Obama and Mexican President Enrique Nieto last week.
She called the deal to use Costa Rica as a safe stopover for refugees was “an extraordinarily important step forward for this program”. “It’s hard to think how we will deal with this considering our current situation”, Vargas said, referring to the surge of migrants to the country in the recent years.
In response, the administration increased aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras ― but also made the more controversial decision to pursue deportations and open new family immigrant detention centers. Officials with the Directorate General of Migration were not available for comment Tuesday afternoon. “This is turning the page to a really new chapter of refugee processing”. For example, Guatemalan government officials have rejected the description of migrants as refugees. All costs associated with the program will be covered by IOM and UNHCR. Muñoz also stated to them the country reserved the right to conduct their own screening of the refugees. Costa Rica’s location also presents a challenge.
Border agents apprehended tens of thousands of families at the U.S. -Mexico border in 2014, majority seeking asylum from Central America. Almost two-thirds of them came through Laredo.
Almost 8,000 Cubans migrating to the United States were stuck in Costa Rica recently when neighboring Nicaragua closed its border.
Federal officials say they’ll now step up and enlarge the project. “$32.1 million is not a lot of money, but to the Costa Ricans it means a lot that we are showing our support”.
Pope said it is unclear how many families and children may benefit from the enhanced programs but officials expect requests for help to steadily increase as the programs get underway in the coming months.
Chen said the expansion did not appear to address individuals who were already in the USA and had legitimate claims for protection. “These programs most often take time to build traction, credibility in the countries at issue”, Mayorkas said.
First, it broadens the categories of people eligible to enter the U.S.to include siblings over the age of 21, parents of qualified children, and other “caregivers” when they accompany an unmarried minor child.
In the meantime, Costa Rica soon will start accepting up to 200 people at a time who are in immediate need of refuge for up to six months.
Costa Rica indicated it would help address the regional migration issue by agreeing with the U.S., the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration to offer temporary refuge to those in immediate need of protection.
Under the agreement announced Tuesday, Costa Rica will only take refugees who have been deemed too vulnerable to remain in their native countries.
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“By themselves, today’s actions will not solve this challenge”, Anne Richard, assistant secretary of State for population, refugees and migration, told reporters on the call.
