President Joe Biden's administration announced that they will expand a program that will allow more minors from Central America, specifically Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to be legally resettled inside the borders of the United States.

Also known as Central American Minors (CAM) program, the movement will be a collaboration between the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to a report from The Hill. The announcement of the program expansion was made by the administration on Tuesday.

Minors from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras To Be Allowed to Legally Resettle in the U.S.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the movement could help in increasing the number of minors from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to be reunited with their family members who are already in the U.S.

Jalina Porter, a spokesperson from the States Department, confirmed that that the expansion of eligibility would allow the Biden administration to accept a great number of individuals based in the United States to petition for children's access to U.S. refugee programs.

"We are firmly committed to welcoming people to the United States with humanity and respect," said a joint statement by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The joint statement furthered that Joe Biden's administration would also provide a "legal alternative to irregular migration."

The expansion of CAM would make children with a legal guardian that lawfully lives in the U.S. eligible to apply for resettlement in the country. The joint statement by the States Department and DHS also confirmed that a lawful residence means people who have lawful permanent residence, parole, deferred action, temporary protected status, and deferred enforced departure or withholding of removal.

"It could be a substantial increase, and we hope it will be," described a senior official for President Joe Biden's administration to the number of eligible minors, as reported by VOA. The official who requested anonymity also highlighted that under the modified plan, up to 100,000 minors from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras could become eligible for CAM.

President Joe Biden's Administration Expands Central American Minors Program (CAM)

The Central American Minors (CAM) program was started by the Obama Administration in 2014 to cover those 21 and younger from the countries in the Northern Triangle region of Central America. However, the said program was terminated under the regime of the Trump administration in 2017. The former administration abruptly stopped the program amid more than 3,000 family-reunification cases already being processed.

In March, President Joe Biden's administration reinstated the program, with its first pace working through thousands of applications and cases that were suspended by the previous administration in November 2017. Spokesperson Porter emphasized that the federal government discovered more than 3,000 cases representing 3,828 individuals. Among those cases, 1,100 were reopened by the administration.

The joint statement of the DHS and States Department pointed out that President Joe Biden's administration would deliver their promise "to promote safe, orderly, and humane migration from Central America." The statesmen furthered that this will be done through "legal pathways" that seek humanitarian protection in the U.S.

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