The Biden administration is facing a critical moment after Donald Trump’s election.
One of the most prominent migration programs from Biden's administration “Safe Mobility” (or “Movilidad Segura”), which offers a regulated pathway for migrants from Central and South America with irregular migration issues, now appears at risk of being shut down in anticipation of the transition in leadership.
The Safe Mobility websites in Colombia and Ecuador, have experienced a pause in online applications due to the inordinate number of applications being processed.
This seems to be an early result of anticipated migration pathways to the U.S. being more restrictive amidst anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Republican party and imminent political changes.
The Safe Mobility program has received stark criticism from Republicans since early November—in the days before the presidential election. At that time, the House Judiciary Committee issued a report critical of the border policies of the Biden administration. The report included the Republican Party’s pledge to continue scrutiny of the administration’s border policies. They said they would guide legislative efforts aimed at bringing an end to the Safe Mobility initiative, which “has served to fulfill the Biden-Harris Administration’s open-borders agenda.”
“Rather than fix the actual problem of illegal immigration,” the report concluded, “the Biden-Harris Administration engaged in misdirection—teaming up with open-borders bureaucrats at the United Nations ... to bypass the southwest border altogether.”
The eligibility criteria of Safe Mobility takes into account the situations of migrants from countries like Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela looking for a refugee settlement, family reunification paroles, temporary employment or parole processes.
The potential discontinuation of this program could leave thousands of migrants who relied on it as a legal and orderly means of migration, in a limbo of uncertainty.
Sergio Guzman, co-founder of Colombia Risk Analysis, said there is a real concern that programs, like CBP One or Safe Mobility, might be discarded in favor of more aggressive measures for addressing migrants or processing asylum applications.
”It's likely that there will be legal contests to Trump’s executive orders or decrees affecting immigration. However, with a conservative Supreme Court, these contests are unlikely to succeed," he explained. "This suggests that Congress and the courts may work together to strengthen or make immigration laws and penalties more robust, particularly for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.”
The Safe Mobility program has been largely criticized for being too narrow and excluding access for vulnerable migrants in transit. Although the program has facilitated a legal pathway of resettlement for more than 92,000 migrants and asylum seekers, these figures remain small compared to the large number of individuals arriving at the southern border.
In this context, questions also arise about the future of other programs, like CBP One, which has been a key tool for managing asylum applications at the border. If this program is also dismantled or restricted, it is likely to create an immigration crisis in the region.
With time running out, many migrants in South and Central America face an uncertain future, especially if they are unable to complete their processes before the new administration takes office on Jan. 20. This could lead to an increase in irregular crossings and heightened tensions in border areas in the interim.
After Jan. 20, the closure or modification of programs like Safe Mobility could mark the end of a more orderly approach to immigration management and pave the way for more restrictive policies, further complicating the situation for those fleeing difficult situations and seeking asylum in the United States.
