President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum that would allow children from various regions, including Central America, to apply for asylum for the 2015 fiscal year.

In the memorandum to Secretary of State John Kerry, Obama said up to 70,000 refugees can be admitted to the U.S. during the 2015 fiscal year. Obama claimed the rate 70,000 figure is justified due to "humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest." The 70,000 figure also applies for people admitted through federal refugee resettlement assistance under the Amerasian immigrant admissions program.

The number of people eligible to receive refugee status is split into an uneven quota by region. The "Near East and South Asia" region received the highest allocation with 33,000, followed by "Africa" with 17,000. The "East Asia" region was allocated 13,000 refugee admittance for 2015. Meanwhile, the "Latin American and the Caribbean" region was assigned a cap of 4,000 refugees. "Europe and Central Asia" was allotted 1,000 while "Unallocated Reserve" received 2,000.

"The 2,000 unallocated refugee numbers shall be allocated to regional ceilings, as needed. Upon providing notification to the Judiciary Committees of the Congress, you are hereby authorized to use unallocated admissions in regions where the need for additional admissions arises," Obama's memorandum noted.

The State Department can allocate unused admissions to another region if the need is warranted but after notification to the Judiciary Committees of the Congress.

Obama issued a similar memorandum in October 2013 for the 2014 fiscal year. While the total allocations was also 70,000, the admittances for people from Latin America and the Caribbean was 5,000. East Asia also received a deduction of 1,000 admittances. Africa, however, was given an increase of 2,000 admittances.

The 2015 fiscal year memorandum also noted that people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are eligible to be considered refugees "for the purpose of admission to the United States within their countries of nationality or habitual residence." They join Cuba as the only Latin American countries to be part of the list.

According to a White House official, the addition of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras is aimed to stop children from making the dangerous journey north across Mexico and into the U.S. Obama was reportedly pitched the idea during the summer.

"We are establishing in-country refugee processing to provide a safe, legal and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that children are currently undertaking to join relatives in the United States," said White House spokesman Shawn Turner. "These programs will not be a pathway for children to join undocumented relatives in the United States."

Processing centers will be established in the three Central American countries.

According to Obama, the admittance allocations were based on consultations with Congress and in accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

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