Executive order on creating a framework to address causes of migration and manage migration throughout north and central america

White House – February 4, 2021, Executive Order

  • The order calls for the following:
    1. Creation of a “Root Causes Strategy” to address the underlying factors leading to migration and a “Collaboration Management Strategy” to enhance protection and create more legal migration avenues for those in need of protection
    2. Secretaries of DOS and DHS to review mechanisms to identify and process individuals from Northern Triangle countries to better determine eligibility for refugee resettlement
    3. The DHS Secretary and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create policies to allow for safe asylum processing at the border
    4. Review of the MPP (see below) and eventual termination of the Asylum Cooperative agreements between the United States and Northern Triangle countries
    5. The DHS Secretary to stop implementing the Prompt Asylum Case Review and Humanitarian Asylum Review Process, which both shorten the amount of time that asylum seekers have to prepare their case for credible fear
    6. The DHS Secretary to submit a report within 120 days to the President with recommendations for more efficient and fair asylum practices
    7. The Attorney General and DHS Secretary to examine guidelines and policies for dealing with asylum claims based on circumstances in which a person should be considered a member of a “particular social group”
  • This order also revoked the following:
    1. Executive Order 13767 – Called for immediate construction of the border wall and efforts to further secure the Southern border
    2. Proclamation 9880 – Declared that immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally were ineligible for asylum
    3. Presidential Memorandum of April 29, 2019 – Prevented certain asylum seekers from getting any kind of immigration relief, required adjudication of asylum cases within 180 days of filing, imposed application fee for asylum, kept asylum seekers who entered the US without inspection from receiving work authorization while applications were pending.
    4. Presidential Memorandum of April 6, 2018 – prevented DHS from releasing immigrants from detention while cases were pending
    5. Presidential Memorandum of April 4, 2018 – deployed National Guard to secure the southwest border

News articles on this order

NORTHERN TRIANGLE ENHANCED ENGAGEMENT ACT

H.R.2615 — 116TH CONGRESS

Senate – July 15, 2019, Bill (Enacted December 2020)

  • Authorizes foreign assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (the Northern Triangle)
  • Requires the State Department along with other agencies to create a 5-year plan for economic development, corruption, crime, and other underlying conditions of migration in the region
  • The secretary of state is required to submit an annual report to Congress describing progress
  • Creation of the “Engel List“:
    • Requires the Administration to publish a list of individuals from the Northern Triangle responsible for perpetrating corruption and undermining governance
    • Denies entry of these listed individuals into the United States

Articles about this Act: