Summit of the Americas: 20 nations sign Los Angeles Declaration, offer labor pathways to migrants

While President Joe Biden made clear his intentions to crack down on illegal immigration and vigilantly pursue human smugglers at the Los Angeles based Summit of the Americas this week, he also announced that more countries would be opening labor pathways to migrants.

U.S. officials on Friday revealed a number of strategic steps to quell the migration crisis as Biden and other leaders attending the summit issued a joint statement now dubbed ‘The Los Angeles Declaration’ aimed at new joint cooperation and solutions.

The declaration, presented by Western Hemisphere leaders on Friday, “seeks to mobilize the entire region around bold actions that will transform our approach to managing migration in the Americas,” according to the White House.

A June 10, 2022 White House fact sheet says the declaration is organized around four key pillars: (1) stability and assistance for communities, (2) expansion of legal pathways, (3) humane migration management and (4) coordinated emergency response. 

“Each of us is signing up to commitments that recognizes the challenges we all share, and the responsibility that impacts on all of our nations,” Biden said, representing just one of 20 different nation signatories who participated in the Los Angeles Declaration.

Many nations throughout Latin America attended the conference despite a boycott from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which came after the Biden administration excluded communist dictatorships such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Several countries that attended volunteered to help with the migration crisis by opening new labor pathways to help with the flow of migrants.

“Mexico, Guatemala, Canada and Spain are also making commitments today to expand labor pathways to their countries as well,” Biden said. “And in addition to securing our border and bringing order to the asylum processing in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security is the first of its kind campaign to disrupt human smuggling in the region.”

He then addressed human smugglers, issuing them a stern warning.

“We are coming after you. If you prey on desperate and vulnerable migrants for profit, we are coming for you.”

The White House also revealed programs jointly agreed to by Western Hemisphere countries and Spain, which attended as an observer. Those programs include accepting more guest workers and offering legal pathways to migrants from economically stressed nations with work opportunities in wealthier ones.

While many of the nations offering pathways are in the Western Hemisphere, Madrid has opened a door to help with the crisis by also taking in guest workers and offering legal pathways.

“Spain will double the number of labor pathways for Hondurans to participate in Spain's circular migration programs,” reads the White House fact sheet.

The fact sheet also indicated that despite a boycott from López Obrador, Mexico will launch a temporary labor program for 15,000 to 20,000 workers from Guatemala. The country will also increase eligibility for the program to include migrants from El Salvador and Honduras “in the medium term.”

The United States, which is currently facing a historical number of illegal migrants at its southern border, committed to help with hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance for Venezuelan migrants, renewed processing of family-based visas for Cubans and Haitians and also loosening restrictions on hiring of Central American workers.

Some have expressed skepticism at whether some of the nations who signed on to the Los Angeles Declaration will keep their pledges, namely those nation states that did not show up.

This includes leader from some countries based in the Northern Triangle region such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Eric Olson, director of policy and strategic initiatives at the Seattle International Foundation, said the statement can at least serve as a “useful framework for working on solutions” but added the caveat that it could have limited impact since it is not legally binding.

While the declaration outlines pledges from countries such as Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador  and Mexico, there was no mention of any commitments from Brazil, Latin America's most populated country.

The White House's announcement did not include any U.S. pledges for additional work visas for Mexicans. That would form part Lopez Obrador's visit with Biden next month, an official said.

Biden stressed that despite the influx of illegal immigration pouring into the country, the issue is a priority the White House is taking seriously as attempted illegal border crossings have broken historical records.

“We need to halt the dangerous and unlawful ways people are migrating,” he added. “Unlawful migration is not acceptable.”