Central American migrants will be able to process permits from Guatemala in Safe Mobility centers

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The Safe Mobility centers, which the US government finances and will implement in Guatemala, will receive applications from Central American migrants seeking to apply for work visas, family reunification and refugee claims. With this measure, it is expected that there will be a reduction in the mobilizations of people before they move to the border with the United States.

Washington tries to establish migratory actions in countries like Guatemala, which are used as transit by migrants who try to reach the United States in their flight from poverty and violence in the region, to contain the migratory flow and the humanitarian crisis that it maintains in its borders.

As of June 12, both governments have said that they will enable a web page where citizens can request appointments to apply for the desired processes.

After requesting and scheduling appointments, applicants will be received in offices installed in eight spaces known as Centers for Attention to Migrants and Refugees (Capmir), located in the Guatemalan Air Force, Petén, Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, Quiché and Huehuetenango, confirmed on Friday a Guatemalan government official who asked not to be identified as a condition of giving details.

The Associated Press requested an interview with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Mario Búcaro for more details. The Foreign Ministry reported that the official would attend journalists until Monday.

The Capmirs are under the administration of the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

According to the official, the Guatemalan government would have proposed that citizens to whom the Central American Free Mobility Agreement (CA-4) applies (citizens of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua) can apply from Guatemala.

This is in addition to the termination of Title 42, an immigration restriction implemented during the pandemic that immediately expelled migrants who arrived at the US borders without having processed their application, and the decision to maintain Title 8, which toughens sanctions for those who trying to cross the border without permission.

The opening of these centers would be a pilot plan for six months, which comes after a phone call between the US Vice President, Kamala Harris, and the Guatemalan President, Alejandro Giammattei, in which they promised to “jointly take a series of critical steps to humanely reduce irregular migration and expand legal pathways under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection.”