The number of Central American migrants crossing illegally into the United States through the Southern border has grown exponentially under the Obama administration. More than 130,000 came in 2014 alone, most of them welcomed by sanctuary cities and then protected from deportation by President Obama’s executive actions. The legality of those actions remains unsettled and appears headed to the Supreme Court. But now President Obama has invented a new way to continue the influx of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and do it in a way that is deemed “legal.” He will simply re-categorize them as “refugees.”
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday plans to expand a program to let Central Americans apply for refugee status before they attempt the long, arduous trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. As such, Obama will place authority for the program under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who will pre-screen migrants from three Central American countries and decide which ones qualify as refugees eligible to come to the United States, the Associate Press reports. FULL REPORT
