Biden's Plan for Central American Migrants: Fly Them Straight to the U.S.
Bill points to a three-part approach for in-country processing
By Nayla Rush on March 24, 2021
The Biden administration is reviving and expanding on the Central American Minors Refugee/Parole program launched in 2014 (and expanded in 2016) by the Obama administration, and terminated in 2017 by the Trump administration.1 While Biden's February executive order sought to "to reinstitute and improve upon the CAM Parole Program" only,2 the entire program, in a new advanced version, is making a comeback.3
The new CAM version will have more outreach, but the rationale is the same: Don't come here illegally because we will design in-country processing programs to get you in legally. That was, in essence, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' recent message to Central Americans rushing to the Southern border when he asked them to "wait".4 Mayorkas was clear: "We are not saying don't come. We are saying don't come now, because we will be able to provide a safe and orderly process to them."5 (All emphases in quotations are added unless otherwise indicated.) Three programs, specifically designed for Central Americans as "additional options for legal pathways for migration", are likely to be forthcoming.6
That is also, in essence, what President Biden told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos when asked about the "crisis at the border":
https://cis.org/Report/Bidens-Plan-Central-American-Migrants-Fly-Them-Straight-US
