The Biden administration plans to direct some Latin American migrants toward resettlement in Greece and Italy as part of another effort to discourage people from the region from traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border, people said. to CBS News two people close to the government’s plans.
The initiative would involve Greece and Italy taking in migrants processed at immigration offices that the Biden administration set up last year in four Latin American countries to screen migrants hoping to reach the states. -United, the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss arrangements that have not yet been made. announcement.
The centers, officially known as Safe Mobility Offices, allow some migrants in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala to apply to come legally to the United States or other countries. Under the new arrangements, Greece and Italy would join Canada and Spain in resettling some of those treated in the offices. One of the sources said Italy and Greece would likely accept relatively small numbers of migrants, around 500 or fewer each.
These offices are part of a broader Biden administration strategy to reduce illegal U.S. border crossings by providing potential migrants with legal immigration opportunities. Over the past year, the administration has coupled these programs with tougher enforcement measures, including a rule that presumes migrants are ineligible for U.S. asylum if they fail to seek protection in a third country.
Illegal border crossings between the United States and Mexico are down more than 50% in May, compared to the record high in December — a trend that administration officials attributed to their policies and efforts by Mexican authorities to prevent migrants from traveling north. To mitigate a possible increase in migration, President Biden preparing to issue an executive action next week that would bar most asylum applications when illegal crossings skyrocket, sources familiar with the internal deliberations told CBS News.
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A State Department spokesperson said the Safe Mobility Offices have “helped increase the number of refugees resettled from the Western Hemisphere sixfold.”
“Given the success of the program,” the spokesperson added, “we are in diplomatic discussions with other countries to join this initiative to expand legal avenues for resettlement, but we have no additional information to share for the moment”.
On May 20, U.S. officials met with diplomats from Canada, Italy, Spain and countries hosting the Safe Mobility Offices to discuss the initiative, according to internal Department of Homeland Security documents. In an interview with CBS News last week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared to reference the Greece deal.
“We are working with Canada, Spain and, most recently, Greece, to create legal pathways for individuals to arrive in their countries, out of the hands of smugglers who simply seek to exploit these individuals for profit.” , Mayorkas said.
Representatives of the Greek and Italian governments did not respond to requests for comment.
After this story was first published, Italian government sources told Ansa, one of the main news agencies in Italy, that Rome was exploring a migration deal with the United States, but described it as an exchange of refugees. According to sources, there are only “20 Venezuelan refugees of Italian origin”.
“The hypothesis of a reciprocal agreement is currently being studied, according to which the United States would welcome refugees in Libya and wishing to go to Europe, while certain Mediterranean European states would welcome a few dozen southern refugees. -Americans,” the sources said. Italian release.
The Greek Minister of Migration declared: “There is neither agreement nor request from the United States to resettle legal immigrants in Greece.”
Plans to divert some Latin American migrants to Greece and Italy highlight a growing trend by the United States and other Western countries to manage intensifying migration crises around the world through international agreements.
Just as the United States has faced unprecedented levels of migration to its southern border, Italy and Greece have faced the arrival of large numbers of migrants fleeing wars and poverty in Africa in the North and the Middle East over the past decade. The migration crises facing the two European countries have disrupted their policies and highlighted the often fatal nature of voyages in the Mediterranean Sea.
However, Greece and Italy are, in many cases, transit countries for migrants wishing to settle elsewhere in Europe. And both countries have aging populations and significant labor shortages, prompting them to resettle foreign workers.
First announced in May 2023, Safe Mobility Offices are physical regional centers for the United States to determine whether migrants are eligible for various options to legally enter the United States, including through traditional immigration resettlement. refugees, family visa programs, work visas or an immigration program. benefit known as humanitarian parole. Migrants were also selected for resettlement in Canada and Spain.
The United States has resettled about 10,000 migrants who were processed at Safe Mobility Offices under the Refugee Admissions Program, which requires recipients to prove they are fleeing persecution because of their political views, of their religion or other factors, according to internal government data obtained by CBS News. .
Who can be treated in safe mobility offices depends on the host country. The office in Colombia accepts applications from Cuban, Haitian and Venezuelan migrants. The Costa Rica-based office only processes Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. In Ecuador, the American center accepts applications submitted by Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Colombians. The office in Guatemala only processes Guatemalans.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include Italian media reports and comments from Greece’s immigration minister.
News Source : www.cbsnews.com
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