SAN SALVADOR, July 19 (IPS) – The immigration agreement reached in Los Angeles, California at the end of the Summit of the Americas, chaired by US President Joe Biden, raises more questions than it answers. and the possibility that again there will be more noise than real benefits for migrants, especially Central Americans.
And immigration was once again the main issue discussed at a July 12 bilateral meeting between Mexican Presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Biden at the White House.
At the meeting, López Obrador suggested Biden facilitate the entry of “high-skilled” Mexican and Central American workers into the US to “support” the economy and help curb irregular migration.
Central American analysts told IPS that immigration was addressed at the June summit and concrete commitments were reached which is a positive thing. But they also agree that more work remains to be done to tackle undocumented migration.
That’s especially true as the leaders of three Central American countries creating a massive influx of the poor, who risked their lives to come to the United States, largely undocumented, were absent from the meeting.
Just as the Ninth Summit of the Americas was getting underway on June 6 in Los Angeles, an undocumented 15-year-old Salvadoran immigrant began his solo journey to the United States, with New York is her final destination.
She left her hometown of San Juan Opico, in the La Libertad neighborhood of central El Salvador.
“We’re in touch every day, she told me she’s in Tamaulipas, Mexico and everything is going well as planned. They give them food and they don’t mistreat her, but they don’t let her leave the safe houses,” Omar Martinez, the Salvadoran uncle of the immigrant girl, whose name he doesn’t want to be named, told IPS.
She was able to make the journey because her mother, who was waiting for her in New York, saved $15,000 on the trip, always led by a guide or “coyote,” as They are known in Central America. , who in turn form part of a network in Guatemala and Mexico that specializes in smuggling people across the border between Mexico and the United States.
The presidents’ meeting in Los Angeles “was marked by the issue of interim jobs and the presidents of key Central American countries,” said researcher Silvia Raquec Cum, of Guatemala’s Pop No’j Association. absent, so there’s a gap in that regard”. , told IPS.
In fact, neither the presidents of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, nor El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, attended the conclave due to political frictions with the United States, in a politically difficult battle of words. could have been imagined only a few years ago.
Other Latin American presidents have boycotted the Summit of the Americas as an act of protest, such as Mexico’s López Obrador, precisely because Washington has not invited the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, countries whom it has not invited. they consider dictatorships.
More temporary jobs
Promoting more temporary jobs is one of the commitments of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection adopted at the Summit of the Americas and signed on June 10 by about 20 heads of state in the United States. that city in the United States.
“Temporary employment is an important issue, but let’s remember that economic questions are not the only way to tackle migration. Not all migrations are due to reasons. economic, but also situations of insecurity and other causes,” emphasized Raquec Cum.
Furthermore, these temporary jobs do not allow subjects to stay and settle in the country; they must return to their place of origin, where their lives may be at risk.
“It’s good that they (temporary jobs) are being created and expanding, but we have to know that the beneficiaries are only workers, they are not allowed to settle down, and there are people because various reasons that no longer want to return to their home country,” researcher Danilo Rivera, of the Central American Institute for Social and Development Studies, told IPS from the Guatemalan capital.
The Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection states that it “seeks to mobilize the entire region around bold actions that will transform our approach to managing migration in the Americas.”
The statement is based on four pillars: stability and support for communities; widening the legal path; humane migration management; and emergency response coordination.
The focus on expanding legal pathways includes Canada, which plans to receive more than 50,000 agricultural workers from Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean by 2022.
While Mexico will expand its Border Workers Card program to include an additional 10,000 to 20,000 beneficiaries, the country is also rolling out another plan to create job opportunities in Mexico for 15,000 to 20,000 workers from Guatemala. each year.
For its part, the United States committed to a $65 million pilot program to help U.S. farmers hire temporary agricultural workers who receive H-2A visas.
“There is a need to review the capacity of governments to promote regular migration based on temporary work programs when it becomes clear that there is not enough labor to meet demand,” said Rivera from Guatemala. great demand for jobs.
He added that despite the efforts of the presidents at the summit, there was no mention of all the comprehensive reforms that have been put in place over the past few years to legalize some 11 million immigrants to the United States. without papers.
A reform bill that went into effect is currently stalled in the US Congress.
Many of the 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States come from Central America, particularly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as Mexico.
The New York Times reported in January 2021 that, while the idea of immigration reform was not brought up in Congress, more than 60% of undocumented migrants had lived in the country for more than a decade and had More than 4 million children were born in the United States.
This population group represents 5% of the workforce in the agriculture, construction and hospitality sectors, the report adds.
More political asylum
The declaration also included another key component of the migration agreement: a commitment to strengthen political asylum programs.
For example, among other agreements in this area, Canada will increase the resettlement of refugees from the Americas and aim to receive up to 4,000 people by 2028, the statement states.
For its part, the United States will commit to resettle 20,000 refugees from the Americas in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Karen Valladares, of the National Forum on Migration in Honduras, told IPS from Tegucigalpa: “What I took away from the conference was the question of creating a path to address the refugee problem in the countries of origin.
“In the case of Honduras, we’re having a lot of extra-regional and extra-continental traffic,” she added.
Valladares said that while it is important to “activate asylum processes for those passing through our country, we must remember that Honduras is not considered a destination, but a transit country. “
Raquec Cum, of the Pop No’j Association in Guatemala, said “They have also talked about extending visas for refugees, but the bottom line is how they will go about the process; there are points. specific has been signed and to which they have committed themselves, but how is the thing that should be developed.”
Meanwhile, a Salvadoran teenager on her way to New York told her uncle that she expected to be there in about a month.
“She left because she wanted to improve herself, to improve her situation, because in El Salvador, life is very expensive,” said Omar, the girl’s uncle.
“I even thought about leaving the country, but I suffer from breathing problems and for example can’t run much or swim, and sometimes you have to run away from migrants (border patrol). )”, I said.
© Inter Press Service (2022) – All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service
