The cost of establishing and operating the migrant processing centers in Latin America announced Thursday by the US government, will be fully covered by the administration of President Joe Biden.
This was confirmed on Friday by Marta Youth, deputy undersecretary of the US Department of State’s Office of Population, Refugees and Migration, during a meeting with reporters.
Youth could not detail the exact amount that would be invested in operating these centers.
The processing centers will initially open in Colombia and Guatemala, however, the US government is in talks with other countries in the region to open additional facilities, as detailed on Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS, for its acronym in English).
“Guatemala will collaborate with the migration approach strategy in the region, together with the United States, through the implementation of offices located in selected areas of Guatemala, identified by mutual agreement,” said the office of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei after the US announcement.
The Guatemalan government stressed that these places of processing “will not be reception spaces for refugees or shelters.”
In Colombia, President Gustavo Petro confirmed that he agreed with the US to establish multiple centers in the country to guarantee “orderly and legal” emigration. The announcement also comes a week after the Petro’s visit to Washingtonwhere he was received by Biden at the White House.
“It is a mechanism that will benefit many families, also having migrant processing centers here in the country. It is good news for Colombia, good news for the region,” said Luis Gilberto Murillo, Bogota’s ambassador to the US, in a written communication.
For its part, Youth assured that, although the centers are located in Colombia and Guatemala, not only nationals from those countries will be attended to, but also cases of “migrants from the entire region”.
Migrants will be able to access these processing centers through appointments that will be scheduled virtually on mobile phones. Once there, people will undergo an initial evaluation with specialists to be referred to refugee resettlement programs and other legal routes of arrival in the US, such as humanitarian parole or family reunification.
The goal would be to speed up the pre-selection of people to programs that are eligible, according to US officials.
The centers will be implemented by international organizations and are expected to have the capacity to serve up to 6,000 people each month.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
