Biden administration to restart program for Central American children

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will restart the Central American Minors program, which allows certain at-risk Central American youths to live in the US.

The program had allowed children under age 21 who have parents lawfully living in the US to seek entry into the country from their places of origin if they did not qualify for refugee protections but were still at risk of harm.

That program was “abruptly” ended by the Trump administration, “leaving around 3,000 children already approved for travel stranded,” Roberta Jacobson, the coordinator for the southern border, said at a briefing Wednesday. The new phase of the program will work to “expand safe and legal avenues” for migration to the US.

“As directed by President Biden, the Departments of State and Homeland Security (DHS) have initiated the first phase of reinstituting and improving the CAM program to reunite qualified children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with their parent or parents who are lawfully present in the United States,” the State Department said in a statement Wednesday.

The first phase will process eligible applications that were closed when the program was terminated in 2017, the department added. The second phase will accept new applications.

The announcement comes as the Biden administration faces a growing number of children crossing the US-Mexico border alone. The rapid increase is outpacing shelter capacity for children, leaving thousands in Border Patrol custody for extended periods.

Jacobson, who has spent 30 years as a career civil servant, reiterated the administration’s urgent message Wednesday that “the border is not open” and charged that the Trump administration “intentionally made it worse.”

“We can’t just undo four years of the previous administration’s actions overnight,” said Jacobson, adding that it will take “significant time to overcome” the effects of Trump immigration policy.

In her role, Jacobson is working toward the goal of addressing the root causes of migration, as part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan.

The President is asking Congress for $4 billion over four years, she said, aimed at community training, climate mitigation, violence prevention and anti-gang programs with US partners in Mexico and Central America.