On January 21, 2021, U.S. Secretary of State meets with Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca L on the sidelines of the 76th UN General Assembly in New York City, U.S. Oct 19 Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke to Brazilian counterpart Carlos Franca about unprecedented regional migration and ways to collaborate to slow the number of migrants heading north, the State Department said on Tuesday.
The call between the senior diplomatic officials of the two largest economies in Latin America comes as a record number of Brazilians arrive at the southern border, part of a wave of people fleeing a region hit badly by COVID-19 Pandemic.
Middle eastern border apprehensions have jumped to their highest levels in recent months in 20 years, causing political and logistical headaches for U.S. President Joe Biden.
In the call, Blinken and Franca discussed the unprecedented irregular migration movement across the hemisphere and how they could work together to help curb the growing uncontrolled flow of illegal migrants in the region, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Diplomatic efforts are under way to stop the arrival of Brazilians.
Mexico is slated to impose visa requirements for Brazilian visitors, according to a document from the Interior Ministry of Mexico. Since 2004, Mexico has not required visas for Brazilians, giving migrants an easier path to enter the country and proceed north.
Reuters reported last week that Washington has asked Mexico to ban visa requirements on Brazilians since July and how it will work with Brazil.
During the first 11 months of the 2021 fiscal year, 46,280 Brazilians were apprehended at the southern border of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show, compared with 17,893 for all of 2019.
Blinken praised Brazil's leadership in assisting vulnerable populations of migrants, including Haitians and Venezuelans. Last month, Reuters reported that the International Organization for Migration IOM had asked Brazil to accept some Haitian migrants camped along the U.S. border of Mexico and Costa Rica.