The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, visited the city of Bogotá last Friday in order to discuss with the Colombian authorities the challenge that migration represents for the continent.
During his visit, in which he met with President Gustavo Petro and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Álvaro Leyva, it was announced that a Latin American conference on migration and the commitment of the US authorities to face the migratory wave that has been experienced in 2022 was emphasized.
And it is that this year all the records of people who cross the Darien Gap have been broken with the aim of reaching the United States. Figures from the Panamanian authorities indicate that almost 228,000 migrants have crossed the jungle to embark on the route to the North American nation.
‘A common challenge’
During his visit to Bogotá, Mayorkas assured that migration is a challenge that not only involves the United States and Colombia Rather, it is a regional challenge, since the hemisphere -and the world in general- are facing a movement of people that is unprecedented in recent years.
“To address what is a regional challenge, we have to have a regional solution and that requires the participation of multiple countries. Colombia has been a tremendous leader in what it has done in terms of helping Venezuelans. So together we will bring other countries to the table to address the challenge,” he said.
For this reason, after his meeting with Foreign Minister Leyva, the officials announced the holding of a Latin American conference to address migration, which is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2023.
(You may be interested in: 2022, the year in which the most migrants have died on the US-Mexico border.)
Colombia has been a tremendous leader in what it has done with regard to aid to Venezuelans.
According to Mayorkas, it is a meeting aimed at developing a joint solution for the collective challenge that the migratory flow in America supposes. The details of said meeting, however, will be established in the coming months.
“Minister Leyva expressed his intention to host the conference. But it is at a very early stage. We are going to work on the contours of that conference to establish a date in the shortest possible time and outline an agenda that is not unilateral, but multilateral,” Mayorkas told EL TIEMPO.
“We don’t want to sit everyone at the table and discuss the issue without having worked on it before that conference. We want the meeting to produce concrete results”, he added.
The crisis in the Darien
Asked about the crisis in the Darien Gap, Mayorkas stated that the possibility of expedite the issuance of visas to enter the United States with the aim that migrants can travel legally to said country.
“We are very focused on building legal, safe, and orderly pathways so that people who can don’t have to put their lives, and life savings, in the hands of the smuggling organizations that exploit them,” he added.
(You can read: How viable is the proposal to eliminate the visa for Colombians in the US?)
We have to create opportunities so that they do not feel the need to emigrate to a country that is not theirs.
In addition, he emphasized that solving the crisis will require investing in the real causes that force migrants to leave their countries and risk their lives through illegal routes.
“President Pedro expressed it in a very moving way. He said that people do not leave their home countries for pleasure. They are abandoned for reasons of violence, economic desperation and, increasingly, the results of climate change. People want to stay in their homes and we have to create opportunities for them. So that they do not feel the need to emigrate to a country that is not theirs to get a better life”, he added.
The end of Title 42
Mayorkas also took the opportunity to refer to the end of Title 42, the public health norm established during the pandemic by the government of former President Donald Trump that allows the return of the majority of migrants who arrive at the border with Mexico and that a judge ordered to suspend.
The norm, described by the Washington judge as arbitrary and capricious, will be lifted, for now, on December 21, so many fear that the measure will increase the number of people interested in entering the United States illegally. .
(Also: The implications of a new US measure to control Venezuelan migration)
For this reason, Mayorkas was emphatic in denying the rumors that the border will remain open and that transit will become easier after the end of Title 42 next week.
“We will continue to remove people and quickly return those who do not qualify for assistance. We are determined to counter, both in communication and in action, the misinformation that our border will be open,” he said.
The secretary assured that the United States is already preparing a six-point plan to address the situation once Title 42 expires. Among the measures will be the rapid expulsion of migrants through Title 8 and joint work with Mexico for the expulsion of those who do not meet the requirements to receive asylum in the United States.
ANGIE NATALY RUIZ HURTADO
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
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