Biden ends agreements with Central America that restrict asylum

WASHINGTON – The Biden government is withdrawing the United States from agreements with three Central American countries that restricted the possibility for people to seek asylum on the southwest border, part of a broad effort to undo President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the government had notified El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that it had started the formal process of terminating agreements that had been part of Trump’s effort to restrict asylum.

The agreements, which had been suspended since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, required that many people seeking asylum on the border of the United States with Mexico go to one of the three Central American countries to make their claims there.

“The Biden government believes that there are more appropriate ways to work with our partner governments to manage migration across the region,” said Blinken in a statement announcing the immediate suspension of the agreements and their eventual closure.

The Secretary of State said the government plans to work with Central American nations to reduce some of the insecurity and poverty that cause people to flee, while maintaining security on the border with the United States.

“To be clear, these actions do not mean that the US border is open,” he said. “While we are committed to expanding legal avenues for protection and opportunities here and in the region, the United States is a country with borders and laws that must be enforced.”

The Trump administration pressured Central American countries to accept the deals as a way of reducing the number of asylum seekers in the United States. Critics said this represented a pullback from the US from its obligations under international law to help people fleeing persecution, as none of the three countries could reliably provide refuge.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States has rapidly expelled almost all detainees at the border or sought asylum under a public health law to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders on Tuesday that ended Trump’s immigration policies or put them under review. He also created a task force to bring together Central American families that had been forcibly separated at the border under a zero-tolerance program in 2018.