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On Tuesday, the Biden administration made eligible tens of thousands of Central American immigrants in the US to petition. They can file for their children to bring them to the country legally. The move is part of an effort to discourage youths from journeying to the southern border. President Joe Biden earlier issued executive orders and directs officials to revive the Central American Minors program of the Obama administration. The program actually allowed certain at-risk children in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to come to the US. It will allow them to join their parents who had secured legal status in the country. The Obama administration launched the program as an alternative to the Central American children reaching the US southern border. However, the Trump administration dismantled the initiative to empower humanitarian immigration programs.

US Departments of State and Homeland Security started re-processing the closed case of families in March. The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it will allow new applications and expand the pool of prospective applicants. Moreover, immigrants with green cards, Temporary Protected Status, and other forms of legal status will be eligible to file applications. It will also expand eligibility to immigrant parents living in the US with pending applications for asylum or U visas. It is noteworthy that legal guardians of children in Central America will also be allowed to file petitions. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a joint statement.

The statement said, “We are delivering on our promise to promote safe, orderly, and humane migration from Central America through this expansion of legal pathways to seek humanitarian protection in the United States”. Point to be noted that at least 14 thousand migrant minors entered US border custody without their parents in May 2021. Government officials said that more than 80% of the unaccompanied children who cross the southern border have family members residing in the US. The Central American Minors program was designed for people 21 and under who were fleeing due to violence. They were created in the wake of a surge in border crossings of migrant children in 2014. Experts believe the Biden administration should expand the initiative to children with close relatives in the US like grandparents, older siblings, uncles, and aunts.