United States negotiates closures of other countries’ borders to stop migration

WASHINGTON .- The government of Joe biden announced agreements with Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to increase the presence of troops at their borders to prevent the arrival of immigrants to the United States just as the White House is starting to struggle to keep up with the surge of Central American adults and children on the country’s southern border.

The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to keep 10,000 soldiers on the southern border of the country with Guatemala, who in turn promised to send 1,500 troops to the border with Hondurasand set up 12 checkpoints on the route followed by migrants.

Honduras announced it would deploy 7,000 troopsPresidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The announcement comes after White House efforts in the region by Biden’s senior advisor on Latin America, Juan González; the so-called “border czar” Roberta Jacobson, who will step down at the end of the month, and Biden’s special envoy for the Northern Triangle countries, Roberto Zuñiga.

“The aim is to make the journey more difficult and to make crossing borders more difficult,” Psaki admitted. “We are working with them to strengthen law enforcement at the border to deter travel, which is a perilous journey, where many lose their lives.”, he claimed.

In addition to the dissuasive motive of the increased presence of troops on the migrants’ path in the United States, there is a security reason: to reduce the influence of the cartels in the procession of migrants to the United States, according to the Council assistant. National Policy Officer of the White House, Tyler Moran.

“We got agreements for them to put more troops on their own border. Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala have agreed to do so. This will not only prevent traffickers, smugglers and cartels from preying on children along the way, but it will also protect these children, ”Moran said.

But the underlying reason for the agreement forged by the governments – in which the Salvadoran government of Nayib Bukele was not involved, which appears to maintain a strained relationship with the Biden government – is to try curb the wave of migrants, which is on its way to be one of the worst in decades.

In March alone, US border officials arrested nearly 19,000 boys traveling alone, a number never seen before.. And apprehensions at the border post are the highest for at least 20 years.

The border crisis has already forced the federal government to recruit staff from federal agencies to speed up the bureaucratic mechanism that opens whenever an undocumented immigrant, especially children traveling alone, falls into the hands of the authorities. American.

There is a lack of space at the border facilities to accommodate all migrants, and the number of children who have arrived in the country has delayed the transfer of the border patrol to the Secretary of Health and later even to a parent. or an acquaintance who can take care of the boys.