U.S. may extend humanitarian migrant access beyond Venezuelans, Mexico says
7:39 pm Friday, October 14th, 2022
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The United States has told Mexico it will consider granting humanitarian access for migrants of other nationalities following an accord this week for Venezuelans, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday.
Under a plan announced Wednesday, Washington will grant up to 24,000 Venezuelans humanitarian access to the United States by air, while enabling U.S. officials to expel to Mexico those caught trying to cross illegally by land.
The two countries launched the plan in a bid to contain record numbers of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border of Venezuelans and people from other countries, which have put U.S. President Joe Biden under pressure from political adversaries.
Speaking at a news conference, Ebrard described the 24,000 places for Venezuelans as a first step, and said U.S. officials had indicated the plan could be broadened.
“For now it’s Venezuelans, but they told us they would consider other nationalities in due course,” Ebrard told reporters. “We view this positively.”
He added Mexico had in recent months also seen a jump in migrant arrivals from Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador.
The Biden administration also considered including Cubans and Nicaraguans in the latest border management plan, two U.S. officials told Reuters this week.
(Reporting by Dave Graham, editing by Deepa Babington)
