At Summit of the Americas, U.S. Rolls Out Measures to Take on Migration Crisis

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LOS ANGELES — The United States on Friday unveiled a long list of measures to confront the migration crisis as President Joe Biden and fellow leaders prepared to issue a joint declaration thrashed out at a fractious Summit of the Americas.

The White House touted a series of actions agreed by countries across the Western Hemisphere and Spain, including programs to take in more guest workers and to provide legal pathways for people from poorer countries to work in richer ones.

The Biden administration, faced with a record flow of illegal migrants at its southern border, pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Venezuelan migrants across the region, renewed processing of family-based visas for Cubans and Haitians and eased the hiring of Central American workers.

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The announcements on the final day of the Los Angeles summit are part of a U.S.-led pact dubbed the “Los Angeles Declaration” and aimed at creating incentives for countries taking in large numbers of migrants and spreading responsibility across the region. But some analysts are skeptical that the pledges, some of which appear mostly symbolic, are meaningful enough to make a significant difference

The plan caps a summit hosted by Biden that was designed to reassert U.S. leadership and counter China’s growing economic footprint in the region.

However, that message was clouded by a partial boycott by leaders, including Mexico’s president, to protest Washington’s exclusion of U.S. antagonists Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the gathering.

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At the summit’s opening session on Thursday, leaders from Argentina and tiny Belize took to the podium to rebuke Biden face-to-face over the guest list, underscoring the challenge the global superpower faces in restoring its influence among poorer neighbors.

The declaration, due to be presented by Biden and other leaders at a ceremony on Friday, “seeks to mobilize the entire region around bold actions that will transform our approach to managing migration in the Americas,” the White House said in a statement.

Some countries are unlikely to endorse the migrant declaration, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some Caribbean states would not approve it, an official at the summit said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

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U.S. officials are expected to work right up until the rollout ceremony to persuade skeptical governments to accept, or at least not openly oppose, any of the summit commitments, another person familiar with the negotiations said.

U.S. officials believe the open backlash Biden faced in Thursday’s plenary session has fueled the determination of some leaders against caving in to American pressure over the declaration, the source familiar with the matter said.

‘RETHINK’

“Addressing the unprecedented migration crisis in the region requires us to rethink how we view multilateral development finance and how we manage the strains on our economies,” the White House said.

Mexico – whose long border with the United States is the site of record migration at the border – will back the declaration, an official at the summit said.

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The absence from the summit of the leaders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – the so-called Northern Triangle region from which many migrants come – has raised doubts about how effectively the proposed pledges will become reality. U.S. officials have said the turnout would not prevent Washington from getting results.

The declaration encompasses specific commitments by a broad array of countries, including Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Belize and Ecuador.

Spain, attending as an observer, pledged to “double the number of labor pathways” for Hondurans participating in Spain’s “circular migration programs,” the White House said. Madrid’s current temporary work program enrolls only 250 Hondurans, suggesting only a small increase is envisioned.

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Curbing irregular migration is a top priority for Biden, a Democrat, as the number of attempted illegal crossings at the border with Mexico has risen to record highs.

Republicans, who hope to regain control of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives in November midterm elections, have pilloried the president for reversing the restrictive immigration policies of Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

But the migration issue – as well as the summit itself – has had to compete with Biden’s other pressing challenges at home and abroad ranging from surging inflation, the debate over gun control after recent high-profile mass shootings, and the war in Ukraine.

U.S. efforts to stem migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have been hampered by corruption, with projects likely worth millions of dollars shelved and some private-sector engagement stalled.

In recent months, the Biden administration has sought to portray migration as a challenge for all of the Americas, calling on other countries to strengthen protection for asylum seekers and expand their access to legal pathways.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Daina Beth Solomon, Dave Graham, Matt Spetalnick, Trevor Hunnicutt, Lisanda Paraguassu, Ted Hesson; writing by Matt Spetalnick and Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Richard Pullin and Jonathan Oatis)