President Joe Biden hosted Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves on the White House on Tuesday as they mentioned the best way to grapple with a document variety of migrants within the area headed towards the U.S.
The assembly got here amid the unprecedented motion of migrants via the Central American nation on their technique to the U.S. southern border. A big variety of migrants fleeing the violence and chaos in Nicaragua and Venezuela have arrived in Costa Rica, placing stress on the nation’s already taxed asylum system.
Mr. Biden thanked his counterpart for his “leadership with mitigation challenges” amongst different points, together with combating organized crime.
Mr. Chaves expressed that Costa Rica will stay one of many U.S.’s “strongest alliances in the world” concerning financial and safety pursuits.
“I agree fully with your vision, the vision of the people of this great country, where prosperity should be shared widely, generated and shared widely, and that we have challenges to the generation of that prosperity and the quality of life of our people, including security,” he mentioned.
In June, the 2 nations reached an settlement to permit authorized pathways to the U.S. for Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants, who accounted for 240,000 of the asylum seekers in Costa Rica. Last yr, Nicaraguans accounted for 9 out of the ten candidates.
The pressure has additionally put an immense pressure on the Biden administration, which continues to be dealing with probably 1000’s extra migrants arriving on the U.S. southern border this fall.
After a pointy drop in June, the variety of unlawful crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border surged in July. There had been roughly 99,5000 crossings in June, a 42% drop in May after the administration launched a brand new asylum rule. However, crossings elevated in July to greater than 132,000.
The improve is alarming to the administration and threatens to place the thorny political difficulty on the forefront of subsequent yr’s presidential election.
By inviting Mr. Robles to the White House, the administration is emphasizing how a lot it views Costa Rica as a associate to stem the movement of migrants. It is without doubt one of the strongest allies within the area, which has been impacted by dictators, violence, and financial chaos lately.
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