Washington, DC–Today, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of State’s actions to immediately suspend and soon terminate its Asylum Cooperative Agreements with the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras:
“I applaud President Biden and Secretary Blinken’s actions to finally end the illegal and patently immoral ‘Safe Third Country Agreements’ put in place by the Trump administration.
“The House Foreign Affairs Committee had urged the Biden-Harris administration to rescind these agreements, having spent months investigating their legal merit and finding that the agreements – which were designed to send desperate people back to dangerous places – violated both U.S. and international law. Neither El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras have sufficient asylum systems in place nor the ability to ensure the safety of asylum seekers, as these agreements would legally require.
“I look forward to working with the administration and our regional partners to address and manage the causes of migration throughout the Americas, while finding ways to expand opportunity, security, and regional cooperation.”
###