U.S. will set up processing centers abroad for immigrants, extend parole program
The United States will launch regional processing centers in Central and South America to help alleviate demand from asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border ahead of the end of Title 42, the pandemic-era rule, Biden administration officials said Thursday.
Initially, processing centers will be set up in Guatemala and Colombia in partnership with international organizations, and could expand to more permanent U.S. facilities later on. The new centers will assess whether individuals are eligible for a legal pathway to entry into the United States, Canada or Spain, U.S. officials said.
“The United States will use regional processing centers to expedite prescreening of individuals for lawful pathways to the United States,” one senior administration official told reporters on a call. “These new centers will be implemented by international organization partners. Individuals will speak to specialists, be screened, and if eligible, will be referred for refugee resettlement or other lawful pathways, such as parole programs, family reunification or existing labor pathways.”
Officials said the new program was part of a larger plan to prepare for the end of Title 42, a public-health rule that restricted migration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While “significantly expanding” legal pathways to migration, U.S. officials said they are also preparing to expand the use of expedited removal proceedings for individuals who attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
A program introduced earlier this year that allows Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans to apply for parole on a U.S. government app, called CBP One, will continue after Title 42 ends, the officials said. Individuals from those countries who attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally will continue to be removed to Mexico and be presumed ineligible for asylum for a five-year period.
“The measures that we are implementing today are really modeled on what we view as the success of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela processes, which show that the application of a significant consequence at the border, with the significant expansion of lawful pathways, can significantly reduce irregular migration and alter migratory patterns,” a second official said.
“We are also announcing today that we will continue the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela process once Title 42 ends,” the official added, ”and that will include both the parole processes and our intention to return individuals to Mexico who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the U.S.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 11:34 AM.
