Latin American leaders make appeal to US on migration

MEXICO CITY: Latin American leaders holding a summit called on Monday on the United States to change the way it deals with the flood of illegal migration heading to its border. 

For Washington, this is a red hot issue with political fallout on the scale of the wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Without explicitly naming the US, the presidents of Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and other leaders of the region called on destination countries to end “inconsistent and selective policies” such as granting entry to certain nationalities but not others.

They also are called on such destination countries to broaden above-board, legal and safe paths by which migrants can travel to such wealthier countries -- a nod to enhancing mobility for workers seeking a better life as they flee countries with gang violence, corruption and poverty.

The statement after the meeting held in the southern city of Palenque was read out by Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena. In what has become standard at such Latin American summits, the leaders called for an end to “unilateral, coercive measures” imposed on countries -- a reference to communist-run Cuba and the US trade embargo in effect against it for decades.

The International Organisation for Migration has said the US-Mexico border lies on one of the most dangerous migratory treks anywhere in the world. It said that last year 686 people died or went missing making that journey, for which travelers pay a small fortune to traffickers.

This year alone, 1.7 million migrants arrived at the Mexican-US border. And the migration is becoming a huge political hot potato in both North American nations, which each have presidential elections next year. September alone saw 60,000 migrants arrive in Mexico from Venezuela, along with 35,000 Guatemalans and 27,000 Hondurans, according to the Mexican government.