U.S. to allow more parents to petition for their children to immigrate legally from Central America

The Biden administration on Tuesday made tens of thousands of Central American immigrants in the U.S. eligible to petition for their children to come to the country legally as part of an effort to discourage youths from journeying to the southern border.

Shortly after taking office, President Biden ordered officials to revive the Obama-era Central American Minors program, which originally allowed certain at-risk children in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to come to the U.S. as long as their parents had secured legal status in the country. The Obama administration portrayed the program as an alternative to the often perilous trek Central American children embark on to reach the U.S. southern border. The Trump administration, however, dismantled the initiative as part of broader efforts to curtail humanitarian immigration programs.