President Joe Biden's administration announced Thursday plans to create immigration processing centers in South and Central America to help slow the influx of migrants to the United States.
Senior administration officials informed reporters of the plan during a press call ahead of the official announcement, according to Politico. The officials said that the regional processing centers would be established in Colombia and Guatemala in the next few weeks, and a memo obtained by Politico says that more hubs may be established in Ecuador and Costa Rica.
One official, whose name was not given by Politico, told reporters that this is "a significant plan that is really at a level of ambition and scale that has never been done before. However, there is far more that we could do if we had the cooperation of Congress. They have really tied our hands, and so we really do appeal to Congress to work with us."
One official said, according to Roll Call, that "A border-only approach cannot work. We need to work hand-in-glove with our regional partners, and that's what we're doing."
The move comes as the Biden administration prepares for the end of Title 42, the health order restricting immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other preparations include expanding the process for expedited removal under Title 8.
"With this shift from Title 42 to Title 8, it does not mean that the border is open," one senior administration official told reporters on Thursday. "Returning to regular order under Title 8 means that we will once again be able to impose significant consequences on those who fail to avail themselves of the many legal pathways that we have announced today and that already exist."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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