Vice President Kamala Harris’ meeting with Guatemala’s president on Monday to discuss “legal pathways” for migrants comes on the heels of the Biden administration’s announcement that it set a February record for encounters with migrants at the U.S. southern border last month. Ta.
White House officials announced that Harris and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo will discuss the two countries’ efforts to reduce illegal immigration to the United States.
They are expected to focus on expanding “legal routes” to migration, including the use of “secure mobile offices”. The office was deployed across Central America last year to provide migrants with a place to access legal options such as refugee resettlement options and work visas. They are positioned as a key part of the administration’s border strategy, which officials say will expand legal tools and address the “root causes” of the immigration crisis while increasing the “consequences” of illegal entry. He explains.
Migrant encounters at southern border hit record high for February
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with the Guatemalan president on Monday. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
As part of an eventful campaign to tackle the root causes of illegal immigration, Harris, who was tasked with leading the government’s diplomatic efforts on the issue in 2021, will seek private sector support for investment in Honduras, Guatemala and India. The company plans to announce that it will invest $1 billion. El Salvador. This brings the total amount invested in Harris’ Call to Action to more than $5 billion. Her efforts have earned Harris the nickname “border czar” by Republicans, a title the administration rejects.
The White House says these investments have created more than 70,000 new jobs, provided training to more than 1 million people and connected more than 4.5 million people to the internet.
Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande River into the United States from Mexico line up for processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Eagle Pass, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
At Monday’s meeting, Harris will also discuss implementation of Arevalo’s agenda and ways the United States can support Guatemala’s efforts to combat corruption, promote economic development, and include indigenous peoples in the democratic process. . Mr. Arevalo was elected president in August, overwhelmingly defeating his opponent. He promised to fight the country’s entrenched power structures and fight corruption.
Harris’ meeting on immigration came at a troubling time, following Customs and Border Protection’s announcement that the number of encounters with migrants in February set a new record for the month.
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There were 189,922 encounters with migrants along the border in February 2024, an increase of more than 30,000 from 156,000 in February 2023. The previous record in February was 166,010 in 2022.
Despite overall immigration to the border reaching a record high, the number of actual encounters with illegal immigrants between ports of entry has decreased from the February 2022 total, setting a new record high overall. The government claims this is partly explained by the increase in people heading to ports of entry. has encouraged people to do things like expand the use of his CBP One app to schedule appointments at ports of entry.
Monthly encounters at the southern border fell from a record high of 302,000 in December to 176,204 in January, but the decline did not continue in February, making it the most common occurrence in the spring and summer months. It is now increasingly likely that we will see another significant increase at the border.
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Illegal immigration is a top issue for voters, according to multiple opinion polls, and is expected to be a top issue heading into the November election. President Biden is pushing Congress to pass reforms and provide more funding, including through a bipartisan Senate package proposed earlier this year. Republicans say Biden doesn’t need such policies and should instead reinstate Trump-era policies that his administration has rolled back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
