Leaders from the United States and El Salvador have signed a new agreement signaling they will make the Central American country — struggling with gangs, violence, and poverty — a destination for migrants and an abode for Salvadorans who have long fled it.
Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and El Salvador Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chancellor Alexandra Hill signed in front of reporters Friday afternoon a “cooperative asylum agreement” that is the first official step toward working together on migration and related issues.
McAleenan called it a “significant step forward” and credited the country’s new president, Nayib Bukele, for taking U.S. concerns into consideration in the first 100 days of his administration.
Hill said the U.S. has been its “biggest ally,” unlike the previous Salvadoran administration, which she said did not try to work with the U.S. on migration challenges and the underlying causes of it.
While both leaders praised the partnership, neither shared details on how they will partner or what this means for migrants traveling through El Salvador to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Unlike the July deal the U.S. signed with Guatemala declaring it a “safe third country,” this one only signals the new Salvadoran government wants to vastly improve its ability to retain citizens from leaving and work toward becoming an acceptable place for incoming migrants to not only pass through, but also stay long term.
The Guatemala agreement is still in the works, but once it is implemented, migrants who have passed into Guatemala, the southern neighbor to Mexico, will not be able to continue to the U.S. on the basis that they are already in a “safe third country.”
