During a joint press conference last week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the regional processing centers in Guatemala and Colombia should be up and running within weeks. Other hubs could also be coming to Ecuador and eventually Costa Rica.
Reportedly to help slow down the number of migrants coming to the U.S., people will be screened at these centers to determine if they qualify for entry into America before they can try to move on to the southern border.
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), does not believe this is about stopping the illegal alien invasion.
"Basically, the plan that came out is just expedited process and release and expanded use of parole," he submits. "It's just another effort for the administration to manage the surge of people rather than to stop the surge of people."
Though Biden, who just announced his reelection bid, credits himself for reducing illegal immigration, Mehlman says all the president is doing is rerouting it.
"He understands that what is going on at the border isn't very popular, and so what they're trying to do is remove the bad optics while maintaining essentially the same policy," Mehlman summarizes.
The Department of Homeland Security expects to initially screen at least 5,000 or 6,000 migrants a month at the new processing centers. Canada and Spain have agreed to accept referrals from the processing centers, officials said.
