The United States, Mexico and Guatemala agree to strengthen cooperation against illegal immigration International

The United States wants to curb migration pressure at its border with Mexico at all costs. The president, Joe Biden, plans to travel to Brownsville (Texas) this Thursday on the same day that his potential rival in the November presidential election, Donald Trump, also travels to another point on the border, Eagle Pass, Texas. This Wednesday it was Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who hosted a tripartite ministerial meeting on migration with Guatemala and Mexico in which the three countries agreed to strengthen migration cooperation.

The three countries “committed to establishing a tripartite working group focused on operational issues that will work to improve security, law enforcement, procedures and infrastructure at their international borders,” they indicated in a statement. “Police authorities from the three countries will collaborate to identify security gaps, share information and develop integrated operational plans,” the statement also said, adding, “This effort will build on existing partnerships and extend its overall They will be expanded to meet shared challenges across the globe

The discussion focused on actions to strengthen humanitarian management of migration, joint cooperation to address the root causes of irregular migration and displacement, and ways to expand legal channels in the Western Hemisphere, as expected by the State Department.

Blinken is accompanied by the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and other US officials from various departments. He met Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Alicia Barcena and Guatemala’s Foreign Minister Carlos Martinez in Washington.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Martínez announced that Guatemala will soon host the next ministerial meeting of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection.

According to the joint statement, the three delegations agreed on the urgency of addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displacement. To this end, they discussed the importance of promoting investment in Guatemala that develops infrastructure and expands access to healthcare, education, electricity and housing. The participants also emphasized the need to promote economic productivity, boost supply chains between the three countries and create jobs in the region.

All three countries have committed to increasing access to labor mobility pathways as a strategic response to migration challenges in the region. The delegation also discussed the importance of anti-trafficking and prevention programs. “Participants commit to redouble joint law enforcement efforts, including by improving information sharing and working collectively to investigate and prosecute human trafficking and migrant smuggling networks,” the note said.

The United States and Mexico have already held a second meeting this year in which issues such as standardizing migration statistics through the dangerous Darien Passage in Panama, combating human smuggling networks and a plan to address the arrival of immigrants in Mexico have been set as goals.

United States immigration policy under the Joe Biden administration has attempted to address the root causes of migration, create legal pathways for immigrants to the United States, and tighten laws for rule breakers, but that mix has not worked and they have broken. Records for irregular arrivals of immigrants into the country.

Biden has tried to ease the border by authorizing permits for migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba. The United States government has also set up offices in Colombia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, where people interested in starting a trip to the United States can process their applications.

Arrests for illegal crossings fell by half in January, following a record high in December. In January, in his last meeting with Barça, Blinken hailed the “great progress” and milestone presented for immigration cooperation at the inauguration of social democrat Bernardo Arevalo in Guatemala. His rise to power, according to Blinken, opens “an important area of ​​cooperation on migration” between the three countries. “We will continue to collaborate more broadly to develop regional solutions to address this historic challenge,” he said in January.

Biden himself called Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, earlier this month to talk specifically about the border. The US president thanked Mexico for its operational support and concrete measures to curb irregular migration. According to a summary of the call released by the White House, the two reiterated their shared commitment to strengthening our joint efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations involved in the illegal trafficking of drugs, arms and people.

Immigration has displaced the economy as the star issue in the political showdown between Republicans and Democrats. This Thursday, after visiting El Paso in January of last year, Biden is making his second visit to the border as president. The White House announced the trip on Monday after releasing information about Trump’s visit to Eagle Pass on Thursday.

Trump’s push has derailed bills that included aid to Ukraine and Israel, but also included reforms to curb illegal immigration at the border with Mexico. Border measures were initially a Republican demand to greenlight aid to Ukraine and Israel, but when push comes to shove, they have chosen to take a step back and continue to use migration flows as an electoral weapon.

Biden is analyzing the possibility of approving a decree with some measures to make the passage of immigrants more difficult or facilitate their deportation. Among the measures being studied by Biden’s team is the exercise of authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the president broad latitude to block the entry of certain immigrants if this would be “detrimental” to the national interest.

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