Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will meet with senior Latin American officials in Guatemala on Tuesday as part of the Biden administration’s effort to get countries in the region to step up enforcement of their borders and expand ways migration laws.
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. U.S. authorities in recent years have increasingly turned to international partnerships to help them stop large numbers of migrants from reaching the southern border.
The United States relies heavily on Mexico, its closest partner in migration, to control the number of people heading to the southern border. In late December, Blinken and Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, went to Mexico to discuss increased enforcement during a month in which U.S. border agents had encounters with 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, agents made around 140,000 seizures. In March, there were more than 137,000 seizures, and the April count is expected to be even lower, at about 129,000, according to a person familiar with the statistics who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss numbers yet to be finalized.
The downward trend in border numbers could help Biden make the case that he is taking border security seriously.
Tuesday’s meeting is part of ongoing negotiations related to the Los Angeles Declaration, a 2022 agreement signed by the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil and other countries. The agreement stipulates that each country is responsible for the security of its borders and that countries will promote new legal migration efforts.
Kristie Canegallo, acting deputy secretary for homeland security, said the pact was important to “provide a shared framework and goals.”
North American authorities 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 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 moves were “designed primarily to facilitate irregular migration to the United States.”
