LA Declaration urges cooperative approach to border at Summit of Americas

Leaders from the Western Hemisphere rolled out a new set of migration policies to confront the crisis at the U.S. border at the Summit of the Americas. Those measures, dubbed the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, include the United States and Canada committing to take more guest laborers, providing pathways for people from poorer countries to work in richer ones, and other countries agreeing to greater protections for migrants. Mexico also will accept more Central American workers. 

The White House pledged a cooperative approach in the series of migrant programs. This cooperation comes after the prior administration’s isolationist stances and reframes the border crisis as a regional, rather than a U.S. focused, problem. In President Biden’s official statement, he said “We’re transforming our approach to manage migration in the Americas. Each of us is signing up to commitments that recognizes the challenges we all share.” Biden said the commitment means that “no nation is bearing this responsibility alone.”

Beyond the additional visas, the U.S. announced it will commit to resettle 20,000 refugees from the Americas during fiscal years 2023 to 2024 and improve the efficiency and fairness of asylum at the border. A Department of Homeland Security campaign focused on disrupting human smuggling is the centerpiece of the latter effort. The U.S. will also provide $314 million in new funding for stabilization efforts in the Americas in an effort to address root causes of migration.

Countries that signed onto the declaration included the U.S., Mexico, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The list of specific commitments by each country did not include any from El Salvador and Honduras (which contribute heavily to migration at the U.S.-Mexico border) or Peru and Trinidad & Tobago (major recipients of Venezuelan migrants).

Some immigration advocates were skeptical that the pledges will make a significant difference to the border crisis. Tamara Taraciuk Broner, the acting director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, said that while the agreement laid out concrete commitments, “its impact will depend on whether governments move beyond words on paper to concrete actions.” She emphasized especially the Biden administration that “continued to implement abusive migration policies even while drafting this agreement,” a reference to Title 42 and other harsh measures left in place after the Trump administration.

MHC