United States To Expand Central American Refugee Program

With all talk about refugees revolving around Syria as of late, it is easy to forget that people from many other parts of the world are also desperate to escape their countries and move to the United States. In a move that will no doubt be criticized by Republicans, the U.S. government announced that they are expanding the Central American refugee program. Under the new program, vulnerable people from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras will be relocated to Costa Rica before they are resettled in the United States.

U.S. finally admits its efforts to help Central American refugees ‘have been insufficient’ https://t.co/HOFveS5ukk pic.twitter.com/x1Hjhm0k6O

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) July 27, 2016

Immigration is a hot-button topic in the current U.S. election, but the focus in the political scene surrounds either refugees from Syria, who Republicans claim are primarily ISIS members in disguise, and immigrants from Mexico, who presidential nominee Donald Trump claims are rapists and murderers. All other refugees have been lost in the debate, which left many people surprised and pleased at the White House’s announcement surrounding the Central American refugee program.

According to Think Progress, the new plan announced on Tuesday states that the government of Costa Rica has agreed to enter into a Protection Transfer Arrangement with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for refugees in need of immediate protection. Children under the age of 12 who have one parent already legally in the U.S. have traditionally been allowed to apply for refugee status under the Central American Minors (CAM) program.

.@DHSgov will allow more children fleeing violence in Central America to seek safety in the US https://t.co/VvWy9Q65ZN via @HuffPostPol

— NCJW (@NCJW) July 26, 2016

That CAM program, however, has faced a lot of criticism. In particular, critics take aim at the fact that the refugee program process can take up to one year to complete. They argue that this is far too long, particularly for kids who live in fear of gang violence every day.

Talking about the changes, Amy Pope, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the National Security Council, said, “Our current efforts to date have been insufficient to address the number of people who may have legitimate refugee claims, and there are insufficient pathways for those people to present their claims for adjudication.”

The new refugee program allows more people to qualify, including older siblings, biological parents who accompany their child to the United States, and caregivers related to the parent who are living legally in the United States. Costa Rica will act as a temporary host to up to 200 Central American refugees who have been screened in their countries and who are in imminent danger. Steps will be taken as well to speed up applications for refugees who are not in imminent danger.

The hope for the new program is that it will deter people from trying to cross the border illegally. Since late 2013, the Obama administration has been attempting a strategy to deter people from trying to enter the U.S. without taking the appropriate steps. One method was to make life so uncomfortable in the immigration detention centers that people would actively avoid ending up there. Because of increasing crime and violence in Central America, there has been an increase in the number of children showing up at the U.S. border. If the new refugee program works as planned, there would be a marked decrease in those numbers.

Newsweek reports that during the announcement of the new Central American refugee program, it was estimated that people who apply under the program will reside in Costa Rica for approximately six months before they are resettled in the United States. Anyone who shows up at the border without taking the appropriate steps will not be considered for the program.

With his statements about building a wall to keep illegal immigrants out of the country, you can be sure presidential nominee Donald Trump will have something to say about this expanded Central American refugee program. If he wins the election in November, it could have a serious impact on any refugee claims made after he takes office, particularly if he puts a complete hold on accepting any new people during the transition.

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