LatinNews Daily - 26 October 2020

Mexico: On 19 October, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that US land borders will remain closed for all non-essential travel until 21 November, in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19). Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said that the US government is “working closely with Mexico and Canada to identify safe criteria to ease the restrictions in the future and support our border communities”. However, despite calls from local leaders in border communities to permit crossings in areas of low Covid-19 transmission, Carlos González Gutiérrez, Mexico’s consul general in San Diego, California, predicted that the border would only be opened in its entirety, and that no border checkpoints will be reopened prior to 21 November. Edgar Ramírez, the DHS attaché at the US embassy in Mexico, urged people not to cross the border illegally on account of the closure. “Migrating illegally during a pandemic, and putting yourself in the hands of people smugglers, is not a solution, but rather the worst possible decision”, Ramírez said. US border officials are preparing for a surge in migration once the border is reopened, as people seek to escape the economic damage wreaked by the pandemic on Latin American economies. A 21 October report by US television channel CNN cited Andrew Selee, president of US think tank Migration Policy Institute, as saying that in recent interviews with government officials and NGOs in the region, “there was a broad consensus that a big migration flow is coming once restrictions on mobility are lifted”.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 771 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial