GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 30 Reuters - A top United Nations official has criticized the United States' deportation of migrants from its southern border, pushing Washington for faster action to roll back hardline immigration policies left over from the previous administration.
Filippo Grandi, UNHCR - High Commissioner for Refugees, urged President Joe Biden's administration to work faster and more strategically with Mexico and Central America to give alternatives to illegal migration by improving security and job opportunities.
We hear a lot of these programs being talked about, but we see very little on the ground at this moment. Grandi, who was previously a Commissioner-General of the UN Agency for Palestine refugees, told Reuters late Monday that this is the real issue to prevent these movements from happening again or rather from continuing to happen. He also included El Salvador and Mexico on his trip.
Biden pledged to lift many of the strict immigration policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. Some of Trump's most criticized measures remain in place, including the Migrant Protection Protocols MPP program, informally called Remain in Mexico and Title 42, which allows for quick deportations of migrations due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Grandi said that the U.S. is now deporting them back very quickly, but we disagree with that.
He said that the political context is very strong and that it may be difficult to do the right thing for this administration, which they want to do, and that the United States should ensure due process before deportations.
The American Immigration Council said that the United States has deported more than 1.2 million people since the start of the epidemic. Detentions on the U.S.-Mexico border have hit record highs.
Mexico should offer alternatives to migrants, including those from Haiti, who arrive at the U.S. border after passing through Mexico and have no choice but to request asylum, Grandi said.
Why do we say to Mexico, why not create a separate migration channel for them and provide them with migration opportunities? Grandi said something.