The United States implements a new immigration policy to avoid Darien but illegal crossings continue

Five years ago, Alexis Llanos and his family fled Venezuela to Colombia. Avoiding death threats and political persecution. They did not achieve stability there either and decided to cross the dangerous Panamanian jungle of Darien Crosses the United States border with Mexico illegally.

He already had an August 2023 date in his plans when a friend told him about a new United States government program that would allow him to come legally. So they decided to wait, and it worked.

After a four-month process that included medical exams and numerous interviews with United Nations agencies and US officials, Lenos, her partner Diomaris Barboza and their 7- and 3-year-old children arrived in Florida.

“It was a unique opportunity, a miracle that God had prepared for me.” Llanos, 27, said in a recent interview with the agency Ap. “I feel blessed, grateful… I didn’t want to take a risk, I won’t forgive myself if something happened to them because of me” he said while crossing the forest.

The Llanos family is the first to arrive legally in the United States through a new program called the “Safe Mobility Office” by President Joe Biden’s administration. Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

The goal is to speed up the refugee process so migrants don’t have to pay human smugglers to make the perilous journey through numerous countries before reaching Mexico’s border with the United States, which has a record of illegal crossings. About 3,000 refugees have arrived in the United States through the program so far, and 9,000 have been approved.

The impact on illegal border crossings, however, has been minimal. In December, more than 10,000 migrants were arrested every day for several days. In cities like Chicago, New York and Denver, Immigrants who do not have access to work permits sleep in police station lobbies and airports.

The issue of the United States’ border with Mexico is central to the 2024 presidential campaign, with Republican opposition to Biden’s immigration policies sharply criticized.

Republicans are seeking more restrictive policies that would sharply reduce asylum protections, among other things, and are moving ahead with negotiating these in exchange for Biden’s request for millions of dollars in additional aid for Ukraine.

The program was created at a time when the administration wants to curb the illegal crossing of migrants and Congress refuses to discuss reform of immigration laws. Migrants, especially families, can still reach the US border and seek asylum. There they are given an appointment in immigration court and must prove that they are eligible to remain in this country. Delays are long, and immigrants wait years to get a court date. Meanwhile, they remain in limbo without knowing whether they will be able to obtain any kind of legal status.

Through the Safe Mobility Initiative, they arrive as refugees who have already met certain requirements and are authorized Lives and works in the United States. The process usually takes years, but with this program it is completed in months.

Some immigrant advocates applaud the initiative, but caution that it should not be used to replace the asylum system.

“It’s extremely important that these avenues exist now. They’re going to provide protection to a lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t have the means to access that legal avenue,” said Hannah Flamm, policy advisor for the Refugee Assistance Project. But He warned: “No improvement in access to refugee resettlement can come at the expense of the rights of asylum seekers at the border.”

In the program, the government works closely with two United Nations agencies: the Refugee Agency, better known as UNHCR; and the International Organization for Migration, IOM.

To register, migrants must first answer a series of questions on the initiative’s website. After passing several eligibility filters, their cases are sent to UN agencies, which first conduct interviews and then send the files to the United States government, which decides whether or not to approve them. Even in cases where those interested do not meet the requirements to come as refugees, the authorities can assess whether they can come under other temporary legal programs.

“This process simplifies and shortens the time for refugees,” said Luiz Fernando Godinho Santos, UNHCR spokesperson for the Americas. “It prevents people from making these movements across the region and allows many of them to access these legal channels from the countries where they are located.”

Jefferson Castro, the Venezuelan who told Llanos about the program’s existence, signed up to legally immigrate to the United States from Colombia, where he has lived since leaving Venezuela in 2018 due to police threats.

After several meetings with UN officials, he traveled nine hours by bus in September Madeleine To Bogota With his wife and two children, ages 8 and 4, the US For more meetings with officials, medical examinations and cultural immersion courses.

They spent at least nine days in a hotel in Bogotá and eventually learned that three other families who had traveled with them from Medellin had been cleared. Castro thought they would be approved, too, and sold the refrigerator, couch, and motorcycle he used to make home deliveries. But they spent weeks in limbo, with no news of the status of their case.

“I was left without a job, without money, without answers,” Castro, 28, said in a recent telephone interview. Ap From Madeleine.

In late December, after nearly three months of no communication, he finally received an email letting him know he had been approved. However, they have one hurdle to overcome: They need to process his Colombian daughter’s passport and he confirms that he doesn’t have the $100 needed to cover the cost.

“How can I have faith without works? How can I get a passport if I don’t have money?” Castro asked. “I don’t know what to do”.

Some immigration activists say the program can be confusing, lacks information and is even unavailable to most immigrants. In Colombia, for example, only Cubans, Gujarati And Venezuela Those who were in that country on or before June 11.

Still, it’s a good start. And families approved to come to the United States as refugees receive assistance from a non-governmental organization that assists them in their resettlement in the United States.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction in terms of providing a mechanism for people to safely seek shelter instead of relying on coyotes and making dangerous journeys from wherever they travel across the United States border,” he said. Lee Williams, program director at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.

Like Llanos, Venezuelan Edney Hurtado and his family arrived in October. They live in a two-bedroom house in Houston, Texas, the rent of which is paid by a non-governmental organization that also helps them with food and the work permit process.

Hurtado already works as a welder and his wife as a customer assistant at Walmart, while the two children, ages 5 and 9, attend public school.

“I still can’t believe it, I feel like it’s not real, sometimes I stop and I can’t believe I’m here in the United States“said Hurtado, 29. “Safe mobility was the hand that God extended to me.”

Santos, however, cautions that the program is not a definitive solution or replacement for the asylum system, but should be part of a broader response to the migration problem, which continues to grow: 18.4 million displaced people in the Americas2023 as per UNHCR report.

Llanos and his family spent weeks in Colombia uncertain whether they would be eligible to come to the United States legally. The news reached him ten days after his last interview in a hotel in Bogotá. However, the wait was shorter than others.

“We didn’t know the answer until the last day,” Llanos said. The family sold their belongings and, with the help of Lutheran Immigration Services, arrived in Lehigh Acres, a small town in the Fort Myers area, about 225 kilometers northwest of Miami.

They now live in a two-bedroom house on a quiet street where they are already making new friends. Lutheran Services is helping with the medical exams and paperwork needed to become a legal resident, including enrolling her oldest daughter in school. Currently they don’t have to worry about money as they also pay their rent and provide food.

The owner of the house, with whom they communicate through a mobile phone translator, has already offered Lanos a job on construction sites. In a few months, when they are fully settled, they will have to start paying $3,000 for plane tickets over a three-year period.

(AP)