Guatemalan authorities warned Friday of a possible increase in the flow of migrants from the Central American region to the United States following that country’s announcement to end a COVID-19-era rule that allowed the immediate return of asylum seekers, known like Title 42.
The announcement, made through a joint press release by the Migration Institute and the Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes after
US officials said Friday that the administration will end the pandemic-related removal policy that effectively shut down the US asylum system at the border with Mexico.
The Title 42 order will remain in effect until May 23 to give border officials time to prepare for its termination and increase the stockpile of COVID-19 vaccines for arriving migrants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a 30-page order.
“After considering current public health conditions and increased availability of tools to combat COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the Director of the CDC has determined that an order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States, the CDC cited in a separate statement.
The order was originally issued in March 2020 as countries around the world closed their borders amid COVID-19 fears and more than a million migrants and asylum seekers have been rapidly expelled since then.
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