Obama expanding refugee program for Central Americans

Between 2010 and 2014 more than 761,000 migrants from the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) have come through Costa Rica according to statistics from the Directorate General of Migration.

The White House is expanding its Central American refugee processing program, under which vulnerable people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras will be transferred to Costa Rica as a safe haven before they are resettled in the U.S.

Most of these refugees are fleeing increasing violence and gang activity in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala and will now be able to seek temporary asylum in Costa Rica while undergoing a second round of security screenings. The CAM program grants certain immigrant parents – who are largely ineligible for family reunification programs, like illegal immigrants granted amnesty – the ability to bring their unmarried children (under the age of 21) or legal spouse and child who now live in Honduras, Guatemala, or El Salvador to the U.S. “This is turning the page to a really new chapter of refugee processing”. Many details about the program, including how it would be financed or how many people might be eligible, were unavailable.

The changes will give parents a greater opportunity to begin the asylum process for their children in their home countries, “while discouraging people from placing children into the hands of smugglers, who take them on an extraordinarily risky journey across Mexico to get to the US”, Pope said.

Officials have recognized that “the criteria is too narrow to meet the categories of people who we believe would qualify under our refugee laws, but they just don’t have the mechanism to apply”, and thus the White House is expanding the program.

In June, for example, more than 11,000 children and families crossed the border illegally, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security.

After apprehensions of unaccompanied minors and families from Central America dropped in the 2015 fiscal year, they’re are up again this year ― a fact that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has used as a talking point. The plan met some resistance in the targeted countries. Soon, siblings, parents and other caregivers might be able to join them.

The changes reflect efforts by Obama’s administration to find a more effective solution to the wave of Central American migrants trying to enter the US.

“This will help achieve one of our overarching goals, which is family unity”, said Alejandro Mayorkas, the deputy Homeland Security secretary.

“It is important to note that the PTA is only open to applicants who are pre-screened in their countries of origin and does not apply to migrants who travel to Costa Rica on their own”, Richard said. Please see our terms of service for more information.

Carlos Maldonado of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration would handle costs incurred as applicants were processed in Costa Rica.

There, they would be processed further before going on to the United States or another safe country. If approved, they would most likely head to the United States, but could go to Canada, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, Chile or Uruguay.

Convincing countries to host a center has been hard amid concerns that slow processing would lead to a backlog of people with nowhere to go, a Homeland Security source said.

As Goodlatte noted, parole is meant to be used on a case-by-case basis, however, the administration plans to use it for those Central Americans who would be otherwise unqualified to come to the U.S.as refugees. “These programs most often take time to build traction, credibility in the countries at issue”, Mayorkas said.

Almost 8,000 Cubans migrating to the United States became stuck in Costa Rica this year when Nicaragua, Costa Rica’s northern neighbor, closed its border to Cubans.