Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will meet with senior Latin American officials in Guatemala on Tuesday as part of the Biden administration’s push to get countries in the region to step up control of their borders and expand legal ways to migrate.
President Biden has faced criticism for his handling of the southern border and the issue is a key concern for many voters in this year’s presidential election. In recent years, U.S. officials have increasingly turned to international partnerships to help them prevent large numbers of migrants from reaching the southern border.
The United States relies heavily on Mexico, its closest migration partner, to control the number of people headed to the southern border. In late December, Blinken and Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, went to Mexico to discuss increased enforcement during a month in which U.S. border agents encountered more than 250,000 migrants. On some days in December, 10,000 stops were made.
Since then, the number of migrants arriving at the southern border has dropped dramatically. In February, officers made around 140,000 arrests. In March, there were more than 137,000 arrests, and the April count is expected to be even lower, around 129,000, according to a person familiar with the statistics who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss figures yet to be finalized.
The downward trend in border numbers could help Biden demonstrate that he is taking border security seriously.
Tuesday’s meeting is part of continuing talks related to the Los Angeles Declaration, a 2022 agreement signed by the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil and other countries. The agreement stipulated that each country was responsible for securing its borders and that countries would promote new legal migration efforts.
Kristie Canegallo, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said the pact was important to “provide a shared framework and goals.”
US officials point to the creation of so-called safe mobility offices in countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador and Costa Rica, as a direct result of the agreement. The offices have helped the Biden administration increase processing of refugees from the region.
On Monday, the United States imposed visa restrictions on executives of Colombian companies that transport migrants by sea, saying the movements were “primarily designed to facilitate irregular migration to the United States.”