Administration officials reject that criticism. The work to rebuild relationships in the region has paid off in increased cooperation, though Washington always wants more, said one official. With Congress blocking aid, Vice President Kamala Harris lined up $5 billion in private-sector investment commitments for the region. Aid programs created more than 250,000 jobs in Central America, according to the White House, and migrant flows from that region have slowed.

Administration officials say they’re acutely aware of the political risks from surging migration, citing the rise of right-wing anti-immigrant parties in Europe.

But the Biden administration’s more humane approach on the border — a point of pride for a president whose own ancestors were immigrants — also helped change migrants’ perceptions, according to aid groups.

“The rhetoric has an effect,” said Juan Jose Hurtado, director of a Guatemala City nonprofit that works with migrants. “Trump created fear, and Biden’s message is less clear.”

The Biden administration knew that its less aggressive approach would draw more migrants from traditional source countries in Central America, especially after pandemic restrictions ended. To prevent that, it sought to ease the poverty, violence and misrule that led them to leave home.

“If you really want to solve the immigration challenges, you’ve got to deal with the underlying economic issues,” said Chris Dodd, a longtime ally who Biden appointed as his special adviser for the region in late 2022.

Dodd spent much of his first year in the role marshaling support for the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, which Biden unveiled at a summit in 2022.

But that program only got off the ground in late 2023.

A network of Safe Mobility Offices set up across the region to offer migrants a lawful pathway and keep them from heading straight for the border is handling fewer cases than the administration hoped, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The White House says the system is generating strong results, with over 170,000 applications to date.

Still, aid groups say many migrants still believe the border offers their best chance for getting to the U.S. and steer clear of the other channels Washington has set up. The growing numbers of people who’ve made it across the border and managed to eke out a living in the U.S. have also encouraged more of their compatriots to risk the trek.

...continued

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.