The Government expands the program to welcome Central American children from their countries of origin

By Gisela Salomon - The Associated Press

The government of President Joe Biden will begin this Tuesday to receive new requests from parents who wish to reunite in the United States with their children who still remain in Central America, in an attempt to reunify families and dissuade minors from embark on a dangerous journey across the border, two officials said Monday.

"We are firmly committed to welcoming people to the United States in a humane and respectful way, and to bringing families together," said one of the officials at a telephone press conference.

[The arrival of immigrants falls due to the heavy hand of Mexico and the flights that expel them after crossing the border]

"We are fulfilling our promise to promote safe, orderly and humane migration from Central America through this expansion of legal avenues to seek humanitarian protection in the United States."

The initiative is part of the Central American Minors (CAM) program, which had been closed under the previous Administration of former President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration reopened the program in March and had so far processed more than 1,000 cases that had remained unfinished before its closure in 2018.

An unaccompanied minor waits to answer questions from a U.S. Border Patrol agent after arriving in Rome, Texas, on an inflatable raft across the Rio Grande on March 24, 2021.AP Photo / Dario Lopez-Mills

Created in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama, CAM allows parents - and now legal guardians as well - to

request refugee status for children they demonstrate are in danger in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras,

where violence and poverty they are expanded.

The Trump administration closed it down through a series of executive orders that restricted the entry of immigrants.

[Hundreds of Haitians demand in Chiapas that they be allowed to follow their caravan to the border]

Biden has restarted the program in stages

, which also included an expansion in June of the requirements for those who can apply to reunite with their children through this refugee intake program.

I am a migrant and I am on the southern border.

When will they open them?

Sept.

9, 202100: 54

Now, in addition to parents,

legal guardians of children already living in the United States can apply.

In making the announcement, officials said the government's goal is to address the challenges of irregular migration through Central America and pave the way for legal immigration.

[Detentions of migrants at the border break record for the third consecutive month, but the arrival of single children falls again]

As of Tuesday, the parents or legal custodians of minors will be able to start the family reunification process as long as they are in the United States and

have some type of legal status

, including those who have residency,

are in the asylum process, have a protected status. known as TPS

, or an order that has provisionally stopped his deportations, officials said on condition of anonymity, following White House policy.

The

Minors may not submit applications in Central America, but alert their parents to do so in the

United States.

The application process should go through agencies that are charged with resettling refugees, officials said.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to be eligible to apply, although it is not known exactly how many would or would have children in Central America.