U.S. Official Says Belize Managing Migration Issue Well

The mass migration of Central American nationals northward over the past several years has increased and taken on new, innovative methods. We’ve heard of the practice that migrants purchase two-way plane tickets to Belize, but upon arrival, they simply move to other countries in their attempt to reach the U.S. Some CARICOM nationals even use the privilege of free movement to travel to Belize, which makes it easier for them to reach the U.S. through Central America. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali sat down with the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Eric Jacobstein, who said that Belize has been making significant strides to tackle the issue.

 

Eric Jacobstein, Dep. Asst. Sec., Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S State Dept.

“We’re grateful for Belize’s leadership on migration management in the region. Under the Los Angeles Declaration for Migration Protection, what we have right now is a really regional approach to migration, and Belize has stepped up as a key leader on this. In Washington in June of 2023, Belize and the United States co-hosted the ministerial meeting of the Los Angeles Declaration at the World Bank, which Secretary Blinken and your former foreign minister co-led. We recently had a meeting in Guatemala City on the Los Angeles Declaration at which your Foreign Minister Fonseca was present. And so we’re really grateful for Belize’s leadership on a number of fronts especially on lawful pathways through the regularization process, through temporary work programs, Belize has really stepped up in the region. And our feeling is that the United States has expanded lawful pathways more than any administration in decades, but our message is clear: that individuals should not take the dangerous journey north to the southwest border. And that’s why we feel it’s so critical to have lawful pathways, not just the United States, but to countries throughout the region.”