The Biden-Harris administration has recently enhanced its refugee admissions program, significantly increasing opportunities for Latin American migrants.
According to Fox News, this expansion comes via the "Lawful Pathways" program, which now aims to resettle up to 50,000 individuals from the region in 2024.
Under the banner of the "Lawful Pathways" initiative, the revised program aims to accommodate a broader scope of migrants, notably from Latin America. This effort is partly facilitated by the establishment of the Safe Mobility Office Initiative in May 2023, which has actively supported the migration of tens of thousands.
One of the critical changes in the program is the inclusion of migrants who are primarily seeking economic opportunities. This shift has sparked debate over whether economic migrants should be eligible under the traditional refugee criteria, which typically requires a "well-founded fear" of persecution.
Data from the Mixed Migration Centre highlights that 90% of participants in the initiative are motivated by economic improvement. The inclusion of economic factors in the refugee criteria has raised concerns about the dilution of traditional refugee definitions, which were primarily intended for individuals facing persecution.
The admission limit for refugees from Latin America has seen a tenfold increase, from less than 5,000 at the start of Biden's presidency to 50,000 in 2024. Such a significant increase in numbers has necessitated a faster processing time for applications.
Critics like Lora Ries of the Heritage Foundation argue that the expedited processing compromises the thorough vetting necessary to ensure national security:
We have a visa process so they can safely go to an embassy and safely apply for a visa and safely fly to the U.S., but this fast-tracking is to completely abuse and twist the refugee process. It’s abusive and not lawful.
Adding to the critique, Ries also expresses concern about the depth of the vetting process under accelerated timelines:
If you just set high numbers and then quickly adjudicate, grant, process, and resettle, then they’re not getting fully vetted. That means no vetting is happening. So they have no idea who they’re letting in.
Offices managed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the United Nations in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala have adjudicated over 21,000 refugee statuses in the program's inaugural year. This expansion has subsequently included migrants from Honduras and El Salvador.
Notably, the Safe Mobility Office Initiative has promised a safer and more organized migration route for those seeking refuge, easing the pressure and dangers associated with unauthorized border crossings.
As migrant routes expand and criteria broaden under the "Lawful Pathways" program, voices like Marta Youth from the State Department advocate for the expansive goals: "In the refugee pathway, we aim to resettle between 35,000 and 50,000 individuals in Fiscal Year 2024, an historic and ambitious goal that would amount to an increase in refugee resettlement from the Western Hemisphere of over 450 percent from last year," she stated.
As the Biden/Harris administration continues to ramp up its refugee admissions, debates around the proper use and definitions within U.S. refugee policy are likely to intensify.
The expansion of the “Lawful Pathways” program raises important questions about the balance between humanitarian aid and national security, the economic motivations of migrants versus the traditional concept of persecution-based refugee statuses, and the operational capacity to manage such vast and swift procedural changes.
