Waiting migrants kept away from border

SAN JOSE — The opening of US migrant processing centers in Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala ensures that more than ever these countries will become waiting rooms for asylum-seekers wanting US visas.

The "Safe Mobility" initiative introduced by Washington in Central America — the main corridor for tens of thousands hoping to reach the United States without visas — attempts to expand legal pathways for asylum-seekers while keeping them in countries farther from the US border.

The new program started on May 11 with the end of Title 42, which had allowed US authorities to return migrants across the border and deny them the right to seek asylum under rules put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Migrants must now seek a virtual appointment on the movilidadsegura.org website, which is supported by the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.

New regional processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala will interview migrants for legal pathways to the US, Canada and Spain.

In Costa Rica, Safe Mobility offices will facilitate ways for Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to migrate legally as long as they were in the country before June 12.

US officials consider the new program a success.

A State Department official, speaking on background, said it expands lawful ways for migrants to obtain visas "instead of making the dangerous journey to try to enter irregularly".

The flow of US-bound migrants from South America, mostly Venezuela and Ecuador, has increased through the Darien, the perilous jungle isthmus between Colombia and Panama.

A recent UN statement said more than 100,000 people have crossed through the Darien so far in 2023, a six-fold increase from the same period last year.

US officials believe the new processing centers will make it easier for migrants to determine if they have a legal pathway to the US and not have to put their lives in the hands of smugglers.

University of Costa Rica academic Carlos Sandoval told Agence France-Presse this initiative responds to a strategy of moving immigration controls southward to implement "more border controls before the physical border".

"Mexico is the first border," Sandoval said. But US officials have sought to place border controls "in Guatemala as well, and now it is coming to the south".

In March alone, more than 160,000 people tried to cross into the US from Mexico, according to the State Department.

Agencies Via Xinhua