Guatemala and the United States on Monday introduced a program in which refugees and migrants can request appointments for a U. S. visa as part of a new attempt to combat illegal migration, the Central American country said.
Called “Safe Mobility,” the program will last six months, to “promote safe, orderly and normal migration and coverage mechanisms,” the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
With support from the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the program aims to prevent “people from exposing themselves to scams and dangers” like human traffickers, he said.
Photo: AP
Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans will simply be able to use the new website to request an appointment for a migrant visa or refugee status at regional processing centers.
In April expired, when the COVID-19-era emergency fitness protocols that had hardened the border between the U. S. and the U. S. expired. With the U. S. and Mexico for more than 3 years, Washington announced it would open centers in Guatemala and Colombia to screen potential migrants and refugees.
The centers are part of a technique through the U. S. president’s administration. US President Joe Biden to walk the political tightrope and expand into legal avenues to the US. At the same time it makes it harder to seek asylum at ports of entry.
Asylum programs will need to be filed in most cases before arriving at the border or migrants threaten immediate deportation.
In addition to being the home country of thousands of people who migrate to the United States each year, Guatemala is also a transit point for others heading north.
The U. S. Department of State The U. S. government said last month that the U. S. The U. S. received six times more refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean last year than the previous year, and it was “on track for more than double the arrivals to Array. 2023 “. “