The United States announced this Thursday the opening of a new office in Ecuador to process asylum requests from people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Colombia.
Currently, the Joe Biden Administration has this type of center, called the Safe Mobility Office, in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, where Ecuador now joins.
The State Department said in a statement that the new office will be operational “in the coming weeks” and will serve to help migrants and refugees find legal ways to move to the United States and other countries. countries.
In its initial phase, he added, it will give priority to Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, and Colombian asylum seekers who arrived in Ecuador on October 18.
Also to people of these nationalities who are registered with the Ministry of the Interior of Ecuador for a residence certificate.
Therefore, it has no plans to respond to requests from Ecuadorians.
Washington released this announcement the day after launching a new family reunification program for Ecuadorian migrants who have direct relatives with citizenship or permanent residence in the United States.
The Safe Mobility Office is one of the centers that have been installed since April in the United States in several countries in the region to offer legal migration routes and prevent people from taking the road to the Mexican border.
The centers have received some criticism for the lack of online appointments.
