February 7th – U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced on the 6th that the Biden administration has begun to terminate the immigration agreements signed with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, and promote the reform of the asylum system under former President Trump.
The United States signed agreements with Guatemala in July 2019 and with El Salvador and Honduras in September 2019 to limit the ability of some asylum seekers in these countries to apply for asylum in the United States and require them to seek protection in their countries of origin.
“Since mid-March 2020, the U.S.-Guatemala Asylum Cooperation Agreements have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the agreements with El Salvador and Honduras have never been fully implemented,” Blinken said in the statement.
Blinken said that the suspension of the asylum cooperation agreement with the three Central American countries was “a first step on the road to strengthening partnership and cooperation in the region”.
“As President Biden envisioned, we have informed the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that the United States is taking this action in an effort to Blinken a cooperative, respectful approach to managing migration throughout the region,” Blinken said in a statement.
It is reported that Biden signed three immigration-related executive orders on the 2nd, one of which is aimed at reforming the asylum system in the United States and how to deal with immigrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Blinken statement shows specific measures to implement the order.
