(Guatemala) The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken called for sanctioning those who facilitate “illegal migration” during a regional conference Tuesday in Guatemala on migration, a subject at the center of the presidential campaign in the United States.
The “new visa restriction policy targets people who knowingly provide transportation to those seeking to emigrate illegally to the United States,” Mr. Blinken told foreign ministers and senior officials of around 20 signatory countries of the Declaration on Migration and Protection, in Los Angeles during the 2022 Summit of the Americas.
“This declaration recognizes that irregular migration affects each of our countries and that each of us has a responsibility to help remedy it,” added Mr. Blinken, referring to “a truly historic challenge” for the American continent.
The American Secretary of State particularly pointed out “charter flights arriving in Nicaragua” with Asian and African candidates for exile in the United States. He further pointed out that Washington announced on Monday “visa restrictions for managers of Colombian maritime companies that facilitate illegal immigration.”
Highlighting “significant steps to expand legal migration pathways as an alternative to irregular migration,” he said he supports “local efforts to help people stay safe in their own countries by addressing the root causes that drive people to move.”
Some 2.8 million irregular migrants enter the United States each year. In the middle of an election year, immigration has emerged as one of the key issues in the campaign pitting Democratic President Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, according to whom Mr. Biden is not doing enough to fight against immigration. ‘illegal immigration.
“Find common solutions”
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo called for “facilitating safe, orderly, humane and regulated migration so that we can work towards solutions.”
PHOTO PRESIDENCIA OF GUATEMALA, PROVIDED BY REUTERS
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
“We are convinced that migration is a multilateral challenge and it is from there that we must find common solutions,” Chilean Deputy Foreign Minister Gloria de la Fuente told AFP.
Representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), among others, are participating in the conference.
Candidates for exile in the United States in search of a better life mainly pass through the inhospitable jungle of Darién, on the border between Colombia and Panama, then cross Central America to Mexico to go to the American border.
In 2023, more than half a million people (mainly Venezuelans) have crossed this jungle, defenseless against the criminal gangs who operate there.
Thousands of Central Americans are also leaving their countries to escape poverty and lack of opportunities.
Between October and February, nearly 130,000 Guatemalans crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, according to the U.S. Border Authority. During this same period, some 1.15 million migrants were intercepted by Washington, according to the State Department.
Not all migrants make their long journey by land, some take sea and air routes. Nicaragua, pointed to by Mr. Blinken, operates as an air bridge through which Asian and African migrants seek to avoid the Darién, according to U.S. officials and Central American analysts.
The authoritarian government of Daniel Ortega, against which Washington is imposing sanctions, is granting numerous visas, the same sources assure.
Nicaragua does not participate in this conference and did not sign the Los Angeles declaration in 2002 to which it was not invited.