Through legal procedures and formalities, any individual who meets certain requirements will be able to enter the United States legally and without facing up any risk, suffering and cost of illegality.
The Mexican leader harped on the pressing need for people to be aware of such new legal mechanisms and not be fooled by “coyotes” (smugglers) that by eliminating Title 42, devised by Donald Trump during the Covid-19 pandemic under the pretext of caring for citizen health, to block migrants and send them back to Mexico.
Obrador called for Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to enlighten this new mechanism and informed about Los Angeles Declaration existence, a memorandum of understanding on labor mobility through which it is accepted as a reality that can be regulated.
Since then, López Obrador said, as many as 265,000 work permits and visas have been granted to Mexicans through various channels including family reunification. 360,853 visas were granted, the biggest number in history.
Obrador spoke of new parole programs for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, with over 74,700 visas and what is being planned for other nations in Central, South America and the Caribbean.
On the other hand, there is an understanding of new humanitarian permits for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela with a commitment of 360,000 visas and 100,000 additional.
He informed of the establishment of two new permit-processing centers, one in Colombia and others in El Salvador, in order for people not to have to travel through four or five countries to get to Mexico and do respective paperwork at the US border, with all risks involved in falling into coyotes´ hands.
Ebrard warned migrants that after eliminating Title 42 they will no longer be returned to Mexico, it is a lie, Title 8 applies to those who try to enter the United States illegally and lose all their rights and possibilities to enter.
Lopez Obrador, on the other hand, welcomed the work visa granting to eliminate the rugged and criminal path of illegality, although he questioned why a greater effort is not being made to attack migration flows and also listed the avenues in which he disagrees with the handling of migration issue through different types of ineffective aid.
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