U.S. reaches asylum deal with El Salvador
WASHINGTON» The Trump administration announced an accord Friday that would allow the United States to divert asylum seekers from the U.S. border to El Salvador, pushing migrants into one of the most dangerous countries in the world. The deal between the two governments is the latest in a series of measures aimed at creating new layers of deterrents to the influx of migrants applying for protection on U.S. soil.
Kevin McAleenan, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill in front of television cameras in Washington, but the two officials gave few details and no indication when their accord would take effect.
McAleenan, who traveled to El Salvador for talks last month with President Nayib Bukele, praised a “shared responsibility” on migration that was part of a broader deal to accelerate economic development in Central America with the goal of keeping migrants in their home countries.
The accord shows willingness by the Trump administration to send people to places that are known to be dangerous — and from which people have been fleeing extreme poverty, violence and corruption — to dissuade them from attempting a journey to the U.S. border in the first place.
McAleenan called the accord with El Salvador an “asylum cooperation agreement,” rather than the kind of “safe third country” arrangement Trump officials have pursued for years. That term has been stigmatized in Central America, in large part because it would be difficult to consider the Northern Triangle region of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as a safe haven, given that it has among the highest homicide rates in the world.
In practice, the agreement with El Salvador takes the Trump administration further toward what McAleenan is seeking across the hemisphere: deals that aim to stem the surging numbers of migrants from around the world who have flooded U.S. immigration courts with humanitarian claims.
Asylum seekers from Nicaragua, Cuba and other nations who pass through El Salvador en route to the U.S. border would be eligible for return there once the accord is implemented, U.S. officials say. As part of the plan, the United States will help build an asylum system in El Salvador and in other nations in the region, seeking to fund the effort through United Nations refugee agencies.
“We need to see whether the United States will provide El Salvador with assistance to implement the plan,” said Cristobal Ramón, an immigration analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.
McAleenan reached a similar deal with Guatemala in August that has yet to be put in place. McAleenan also is nearing a deal with Honduras, administration officials say.
Other nations where McAleenan has sought such accords, including Panama and Mexico, have balked, saying they will not sign safe third country agreements even as they demonstrate a willingness to reach deals that could function in a similar way.