US creates Latin American immigration centres

The US is setting up two new processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala to manage the record-high number of immigrants entering the country. The centers, operated by international aid NGOs, will screen new arrivals for asylum eligibility before they reach the US border and if they aren't eligible, refer them to other legal routes. Migrants may be granted passage into the US for family reunification, labor or parole programs, or redirected to third countries. The policy shift coincides with the repeal of Title 42, a Covid-19-era emergency order that allowed some migrants to be turned away at the border. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) expects 10,000-13,000 migrants to attempt the border crossing every day, which would swamp the CBP, Department of Homeland Security, and all agencies and NGO tasked with processing and sheltering the new arrivals.

The administration has promised that those who cross the US border without authorization and who fail to qualify for protection will be quickly returned with at least a five-year bar to returning. The new plan is intended to help migrants "safely enter the United States lawfully rather than paying for dubious help from migrant smugglers and criminal organizations".