Illegal Honduran migrants walk along a road in Guatemala on Jan. 16. They are preparing to travel to the United States.
The Biden administration said Saturday (Feb. 6) it suspended asylum agreements signed by the Trump administration with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as part of his bid to roll back Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States has “suspended and initiated proceedings to terminate asylum cooperation agreements with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as one of the first concrete steps on the path to greater partnership and cooperation in the region laid out by President Biden. “
The Trump Administration‘s 2019 “safe third country” agreement with Central American countries aimed at curbing illegal immigration to restrict Central Americans from seeking asylum in the United States.
In July 2019, then-President Trump said during a presentation on the U.S.-Guatemala agreement, which requires people borrowing through Guatemala on their way to the U.S. to file asylum claims in Guatemala rather than at the U.S. border. Trump said the landmark agreement would put human smugglers out of business.
The Biden Administration‘s move to end the agreement, announced Saturday, was aimed at responding to a series of measures Biden unveiled last week to revamp the U.S. immigration system. Those measures include creating a task force to reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border and raising the annual cap on refugees.
One of Biden’s orders calls for Secretary of State Blinken to “promptly consider” whether to notify the governments of the three countries of the U.S. intention to suspend and terminate the “safe third country” agreement. The order also requires the secretary of homeland security and the attorney general to decide whether to rescind the rules implementing the agreements.
The immigration executive order signed by Biden also requires Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to reinstate catch-and-release measures for illegal immigrants. The order forces border agents in Texas to begin releasing illegal immigrants who are apprehended and allowed to enter U.S. cities to await hearings on their cases.
Pictured are illegal immigrants from Honduras, preparing to travel to the United States.
On the eve of Biden’s inauguration, a large number of illegal Honduran immigrants began forming caravans in an attempt to break through the barriers of the countries they were passing through and advance toward the United States. One member of the caravan of illegal immigrants who left Honduras on Jan. 15 told The Hill that he was going to the United States because incoming President Joe Biden “gave us 100 days to get there.
He appeared to be referring to one of Biden’s previous promises to ask U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to suspend deportations of illegal immigrants for 100 days.
“To get to the United States because they’re going to have a new president.” The Honduran immigrant interviewed said, “He (Biden) is going to help all of us, and he’s giving us 100 days to go to the U.S. so we can get legal status and have a better Life for our children and our families.”
Biden also pledged to provide 11 million undocumented immigrants with a pathway to U.S. citizenship. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton (R-UT) denounced Biden’s immigration rhetoric as having sparked the massive wave of illegal immigration.
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