Report shows Biden/Harris administration increased migration from Latin America.
The Biden/Harris administration has implemented a program known as “Lawful Pathways,” which has been instrumental in admitting tens of thousands of individuals from Latin America to the United States. This initiative, called the Safe Mobility Office Initiative, was launched in May 2023 and has been expanded to increase its capacity in the spring of the following year.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) conducted an analysis revealing that this program has facilitated the flight of tens of thousands of people to the U.S. through the refugee resettlement process. Interestingly, many of these individuals hail from nationalities that traditionally do not qualify for refugee status. The report indicates that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) personnel, in collaboration with the United Nations, have set up offices in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, where they have granted refugee status to 21,000 people from seven different Latin American countries within the program’s first year. As of May, half of these individuals had already arrived in the United States.
The recipients of this program come from countries such as Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Colombia. Moreover, the report highlights that an even greater number of individuals may have been flown in through the months of June and July after the administration expanded the program to include migrants from Honduras and El Salvador.
It is worth noting that the U.S. typically only grants refugee status to individuals who can demonstrate a justifiable fear of persecution based on various factors, such as race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. However, the CIS analysis suggests that many of those benefiting from this program would more appropriately be classified as economic migrants.
According to a survey conducted by the Mixed Migration Centre in 2024, 90% of the program participants expressed their desire to travel to the U.S. in search of economic opportunities and improved living standards, as opposed to fleeing potential persecution.
Throughout his time in office, President Biden has increased the number of allocated slots to admit refugees from Latin America drastically. When he assumed office, the number was below 5,000, but it reached 50,000 by 2024.
Marta Youth, the principal deputy assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration, expressed during a congressional committee hearing in March that the administration aims to resettle between 35,000 and 50,000 individuals in Fiscal Year 2024, representing a substantial increase in refugee resettlement from the Western Hemisphere compared to the previous year.
The administration has defended the expansion of the program by arguing that many of the migrants would have resorted to perilous migration routes and illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border if not for this initiative. However, critics contend that this reasoning is an abuse of the U.S. refugee program.
There are concerns that the program may not address the root causes of migration in the source countries and could potentially pose a security risk to American citizens. The expedited processing of applications has raised questions about the adequacy of the vetting process for these migrants.
According to some experts, the speed at which applications are processed could compromise the thoroughness of the vetting process. This rushed procedure, which enables some migrants to complete their application within a matter of days, has raised significant concerns about the level of vetting being conducted.
David Ries, a vocal critic of the program, emphasized the importance of proper vetting procedures to ensure that individuals admitted under the refugee program do not pose a threat to national security. The rapid processing of applications is deemed insufficient and raises doubts about the thoroughness of the vetting process.
