Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress policy and politics experts are available to comment today following the White House announcement regarding an update to the Central America refugee processing. Per the announcement, Costa Rica has agreed to start a program that will allow a small number of individuals who have fled extreme violence and persecution in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to wait out the U.S. refugee resettlement process in safety. The United States announced that it also will be working with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to receive referrals of refugees—many of whom are children and mothers—from within the Northern Triangle countries and will be moderately expanding the Central American Minors program, which allows eligible individuals to apply for refugee protection or parole status without having to leave their countries of origin.
As the Center for American Progress has argued previously, meeting the challenges of the Central American refugee situation requires short-, medium-, and long-term solutions—including a focus on regional refugee processing to help ensure the safety of children and families in the region—and in the long-term, working to tackle the root causes of violence and structural poverty in Central America.
The following CAP experts are available for comment:
