US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday sought greater cooperation in Latin America on migration, taking on a cause of growing political headaches that has only been exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine.
The top US diplomat was paying a two-day trip to Panama, his first to Latin America in 2022, weeks before US President Joe Biden’s administration ends COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that allowed swift expulsions to Mexico.
Opening talks with a generous dinner at the foreign ministry, Blinken and US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with counterparts from more than 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere.
“This issue is a priority for the United States,” Blinken said, calling for a “safe, orderly and humane” way of migration.
“We care about the well-being of millions of people across the hemisphere who have made the desperate decision to leave their homes and communities in search of a better life,” he said.
“All of us bring our concerns to this discussion but also the shared sense of responsibility to meet the migration challenges throughout our region.”
Nearly 100 million people have fled their homes worldwide – a figure that Blinken noted is the highest since World War II.
The global crisis has been worsened by the startlingly fast displacement of millions of Ukrainians since the start of the Ukraine crisis in February.
In the US, authorities apprehended more than 221,000 people on the Mexican border in March, the highest for a single month in more than two decades – an issue sure to be high on the agenda of Biden’s Republican rivals in upcoming congressional elections.
The spike comes as people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras flee dire poverty, rampant violence and natural disasters aggravated by climate change.
But the US is far from the only nation in the hemisphere experiencing migration strains. Venezuela’s economic and political crisis has triggered an exodus of more than 6 million people, with neighboring Colombia taking the most.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Fijian Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum during his visit to Fiji on Saturday. Photo: AFP
