US announces restart of programme to reunite migrant families

Roberta Jacobson’s announcement comes with a clear warning to migrants that the US’s southern border is closed.

The United States has announced the restarting of a programme to reunite migrant children with a parent, which was halted by the Trump administration. In a news conference on Wednesday, Southern Border Ambassador Roberta Jacobson said the Biden administration would restart the Central American Minors (CAM) programme, which would reunite qualified children with a parent currently living legally in the US. Between 2014 and 2017 the programme allowed children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to apply for refugee status in the US before making the journey north. It was halted by the administration of former President Donald Trump, stranding some 3,000 children who were already approved for travel.